If you were asked to name the most dangerous drugs on the market, what would your answer be? Would it be opioids like fentanyl or OxyContin, two drugs so powerful and addictive that a national emergency has been declared? How about diabetes drugs like Invokana that are alleged to contribute to kidney failure and other health risks? According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) blood thinners like Xarelto are the prescription medications most likely to require an emergency room visit.
The ISMP analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to compile their annual QuarterWatch report that monitors the safety of prescription drugs following FDA marketing approval. This year’s report focused on drugs and specific adverse reactions involving substantial numbers of serious injuries that affect large patient populations, effectively making them among the most dangerous drugs. Their analysis revealed that anticoagulant drugs (blood thinners) led by Xarelto accounted for nearly 22,000 reports of severe injuries and over 3,000 reported deaths in the U.S. in 2016.
The report goes on to state that blood thinners accounted for more emergency room visits for outpatient adverse effects than any other class of drug, including opioids, antibiotics, and diabetes drugs. Of those patients requiring a visit to the ER, nearly half required an overnight hospital stay.
What Makes Blood Thinners so Dangerous?
For patients dealing with conditions like pulmonary embolisms, deep vein thrombosis, and strokes, blood clots can be a serious problem. Blood thinners work to interrupt the normal blood clotting process, reducing the risk of blood clots forming in the body.
The problem many people encounter when taking blood thinners is that by interrupting blood’s ability to clot, cuts and abrasions can become a serious risk. Even a small cut can be life threatening without a way to stop the bleeding, which is the natural function of blood clots. This is backed up in the ISMP report, which noted that nearly all of the injuries reported were from hemorrhages.
0 Comments