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FDA Approves Generic Versions of Plavix
Posted 10 days ago by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, May 17 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved generic versions of the blood thinner Plavix (clopidogrel), making the widely used medication more affordable for those patients who need it. "For people who must manage chronic health conditions, having effective and affordable treatment options is important. The generic products approved today will expand those options for patients," Keith Webber, deputy director of the Office of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an agency news release. A cardiology expert applauded the move. Adherence rates will improve as a result of the lower-priced generic versions, and fewer patients will suffer from preventable cardiovascular problems, said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center in Los Angeles. "This medication has helped millions of ... Read more
Related support groups: Plavix, Clopidogrel
Plavix's New Generic Status Could Be Boon for Patients
Posted 12 days ago by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, May 15 – The blockbuster drug Plavix (clopidogrel), used to prevent clotting in some heart patients, will go off patent in the United States on Thursday, making it considerably more affordable. Adherence rates will improve as a result, and fewer patients will suffer from preventable cardiovascular problems, said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of medicine and director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center in Los Angeles. "This medication has helped millions of patients avoid fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events," said Fonarow, who also is a spokesman for the American Heart Association. But its high cost has "contributed to patients not filling initial prescriptions for the drug and premature discontinuation of clopidogrel," he said. Patients who stop taking the drug prematurely may then face catastrophic consequences, including fatal cardiovascular events and strokes, ... Read more
Related support groups: Plavix, Clopidogrel
First Bedside Gene Test Shows Promise
Posted 29 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, March 29 – For the first time, a genetic test done at a patient's bedside helped doctors choose the right medicine, Canadian researchers report. The test, which can be done by nurses and others, was able to identify patients in whom the blood thinner Plavix might be ineffective, putting the patients at risk for heart attacks or strokes. "One of the shortcomings we have in medicine right now is that there isn't a quick and effective way of identifying these genetic variants," said lead researcher Dr. Derek So, from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. "We have created the world's first point-of-care genetic test," he said. "We now have the means of selecting the right drug for the right patient." The report was published in the March 29 online edition of The Lancet. To prove the test works, So's team randomly assigned 200 patients to either receive screening for a gene ... Read more
Related support groups: Plavix, Clopidogrel
Aspirin as Good as Plavix for Poor Leg Circulation: Study
Posted 21 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 21 – Aspirin works as well as Plavix in patients with blocked leg arteries, a new European study finds. People with the condition, called peripheral artery disease, often suffer from intermittent claudication, which is pain while walking because of decreased blood supply to the legs. Animal experiments had suggested that aspirin might block the growth of blood vessels that bypass blockages and help get more blood to leg tissue, the Swiss and German researchers said. "Once again, we have shown that what happens in animals doesn't translate to humans," said Dr. Juan Zambrano, an assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine, coronary/endovascular and stem cell therapies at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Patients suffering from peripheral artery disease are also at increased risk of heart attack and stroke from blood clots traveling from the legs to the ... Read more
Related support groups: Aspirin, Plavix, Clopidogrel, Ecotrin, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Bayer Aspirin, Bufferin, Intermittent Claudication, Easprin, ZORprin, Aspergum, St Joseph Aspirin, Buffered Aspirin, Ascriptin Enteric, Norwich Aspirin
Experimental Blood Thinner Given Before Surgery Shows Benefit
Posted 17 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Jan. 17 – An experimental anti-blood-clotting drug can serve as a replacement for other drugs such as Plavix in the days before heart surgery, a new study has found. The intravenous drug cangrelor appears to have the potential to serve as a "bridge" medication for heart patients to take in the several days before procedures such as coronary artery bypass grafting, the study authors reported. Anti-clotting drugs, also referred to as antiplatelet therapy or anticoagulants – including clopidogrel, known by the brand name Plavix – are often given to heart patients to prevent dangerous vessel-clogging blood clots. But they can cause too much bleeding during surgery, and guidelines suggest that doctors stop treatment with them in the five to seven days before an operation. In the new study, Dr. Dominick Angiolillo of the University of Florida, Jacksonville, and colleagues gave ... Read more
Related support groups: Surgery, Plavix, Clopidogrel, Cardiothoracic Surgery
Doubt Cast on Use of Genetic Test Before Plavix
Posted 28 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 28 – A new review of existing research suggests that, despite a federal recommendation, genetic testing won't help physicians determine which heart patients should get Plavix, a blood-thinning drug used to treat certain cardiac conditions. Plavix, also known as clopidogrel, is used to treat or prevent blood clots due to the clogging of arteries and after such surgical procedures as balloon angioplasty. But some patients won't experience the drug's clot-preventing benefits if their bodies don't process it properly, potentially leading to heart attack, blood clots in stents and death, according to Dr. Jean-Sebastien Hulot, associate professor of medicine at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Or, he said, they could experience the reverse – excessive bleeding if the medication has too much of an effect. Hulot was not involved with the ... Read more
Related support groups: Plavix, Clopidogrel
Four Common Meds Send Thousands of Seniors to Hospital: CDC
Posted 23 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 23 – An estimated 100,000 older Americans are hospitalized for adverse drug reactions yearly, and most of those emergencies stem from four common medications, a new study finds. The four types of medication – two for diabetes and two blood-thinning agents – account for two-thirds of those drug-related emergency hospitalizations. "Of the thousands of medications available to older patients, a small group of blood thinners and diabetes medications caused a high proportion of emergency hospitalizations for adverse drug events among elderly Americans," said lead study author Dr. Daniel Budnitz, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's medication safety program. Medications previously designated "high-risk" were implicated in only 1.2 percent of hospitalizations, the study found. Working with a nationally representative database, CDC researchers ... Read more
Related support groups: Metformin, Aspirin, Coumadin, Plavix, Warfarin, Insulin, Lantus, Januvia, Glucophage, Actos, Glyburide, Glipizide, Humalog, Janumet, Novolog
Rx for Heart Patients: Healthier Living, Medication
Posted 3 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Nov. 3 – A healthy lifestyle and appropriate medications can help people with heart disease live longer and avoid a heart attack or stroke, according to new guidelines from the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association. Following the updated recommendations can also improve quality of life, reduce the need for surgical procedures to open blocked arteries and lower the likelihood of a repeat heart attack or stroke if you've suffered one already, the authors said. "The full implementation of these cardiovascular protective therapies into clinical practice can markedly reduce the risk of death, disability and health care expenditures due to cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles and a spokesman for the American Heart Association. For the first time, the guidelines ... Read more
Related support groups: Heart Disease, Aspirin, Smoking, Plavix, Ischemic Stroke, Heart Attack, Smoking Cessation, Effient, Myocardial Infarction, Clopidogrel, Ecotrin, Prasugrel, Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Bayer Aspirin, FluLaval
Genes Could Highlight Plavix Users at Clot Risk After Stent
Posted 25 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Oct. 25 – Scientists have identified mutations in three genes that make certain patients more likely to have a potentially fatal blood clot after undergoing heart stent placement. The genes are involved in metabolism of the drug Plavix (clopidogrel), a widely used blood thinner, and in platelet formation, according to a study published in the Oct. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "This goes back to the idea of tailored medicine but [gene testing] is not feasible to do on everybody," said Dr. John Gassler, associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, who was not involved with the research. "This study is very strongly thought-provoking but I don't think it can alter practice until it's been evaluated [further]." The authors of the study also reported that a higher initial dose of Plavix reduced the risk of stent ... Read more
Related support groups: Plavix, Clopidogrel
Meds Better Than Stent for Preventing Second Stroke: Study
Posted 7 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 7 – Stroke patients who receive aggressive medical therapy have a better chance of avoiding a second stroke than those who receive medical therapy plus a stent in the brain, a new study reveals. The difference is so significant that a trial was stopped early because data showed patients who received stents died more often and had more strokes than those treated with medical therapy alone. "We hypothesized that stenting would be more effective than medical therapy and found exactly the opposite," said lead researcher Dr. Marc I. Chimowitz, a professor of neurology at the Medical University of South Carolina. "In this population, given the results of the study, I would recommend aggressive medical management," he said. There may be a place for stenting in patients who don't respond well to medical therapy alone, Chimowitz added. However, he has stopped doing the ... Read more
Related support groups: Aspirin, Plavix, Ischemic Stroke, Clopidogrel, Transient Ischemic Attack, Ischemic Stroke -- Prophylaxis, Ecotrin, Bayer Aspirin, Bufferin, Easprin, ZORprin, Aspergum, St Joseph Aspirin, Buffered Aspirin, Ascriptin Enteric
Drug Prices to Plummet in Wave of Expiring Patents
Posted 25 Jul 2011 by Drugs.com
The cost of prescription medicines used by millions of people every day is about to plummet. The next 14 months will bring generic versions of seven of the world's 20 best-selling drugs, including the top two: cholesterol fighter Lipitor and blood thinner Plavix. The magnitude of this wave of expiring drugs patents is unprecedented. Between now and 2016, blockbusters with about $255 billion in global annual sales are set to go off patent, notes EvaluatePharma Ltd., a London research firm. Generic competition will decimate sales of the brand-name drugs and slash the cost to patients and American companies that provide health insurance benefits. Top drugs getting generic competition by September 2012 are taken by millions every day: Lipitor alone is taken by about 4.3 million Americans and Plavix by 1.4 million. Generic versions of big-selling drugs for blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, ... Read more
Related support groups: Plavix, Lipitor, Clopidogrel, Atorvastatin
Bleeding Risk With Plavix-Aspirin Regimen May Be Serious
Posted 23 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Nov. 22 – Risk of bleeding for patients on antiplatelet therapy with either warfarin or a combination of Plavix (clopidogrel) and aspirin is substantial, a new study finds. Both therapies are prescribed for millions of Americans to prevent life-threatening blood clots, especially after a heart attack or stroke. But the Plavix-aspirin combination was thought to cause less bleeding than it actually does, the researchers say. "As with all drugs, these drugs come with risks; the most serious is bleeding," said lead author Dr. Nadine Shehab, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While the risk of bleeding from warfarin is well-known, the risks associated with dual therapy were not well understood, she noted. "We found that the risk for hemorrhage was threefold higher for warfarin than for dual antiplatelet therapy," Shehab said. "We expected that because ... Read more
Related support groups: Aspirin, Plavix, Warfarin, Clopidogrel
Plavix, Heartburn Drug Safe to Take Together: Study
Posted 21 Sep 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Sept. 21 – A new study finds it's safe to take the blood thinner Plavix with proton-pump inhibitors like Nexium, contrary to recent research that said the combination compromised Plavix's effectiveness. "We looked into this highly debated area of clopidogrel [Plavix] and proton-pump inhibitors," said lead researcher Dr. Mette Charlot from the department of cardiology at Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte in Hellerup, Denmark. "We did not find any evidence of drug interaction." Proton-pump inhibitors are heartburn drugs. Doctors often prescribe the two drugs in combination to prevent clotting and reduce the risk of stomach bleeding, which can be a serious complication for patients taking Plavix, the researchers said. This study is larger than studies that found an interaction between the drugs, and this data included patients who were taking PPIs but not Plavix, Charlot ... Read more
Related support groups: Plavix, Nexium, Omeprazole, Prilosec, Protonix, Prevacid, Dexilant, Pantoprazole, Lansoprazole, Aciphex, Clopidogrel, Zegerid, Rabeprazole, Esomeprazole, Prilosec OTC
Blood Thinner Combos Risky for Heart Attack Patients
Posted 13 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Dec. 11 – Heart attack patients face a higher risk of being admitted to the hospital for bleeding when they take more blood-thinning drugs, such as warfarin and aspirin, a new study has found. The findings, based on an analysis of more than 40,000 Danish patients, were published online Dec. 10 in the journal The Lancet. Doctors often prescribe combinations of drugs – including aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix) and vitamin K antagonists like warfarin (Coumadin) – after a patient experiences a heart attack. But it's not clear whether the combinations are safe, the study authors noted. The researchers looked at the effects of various regimens on patients who had their first heart attack between 2000 and 2005. During an average of 16 months after their heart attack, 4.6 percent of the patients returned to the hospital because of bleeding or died with bleeding identified as the cause ... Read more
Related support groups: Aspirin, Coumadin, Plavix, Warfarin, Heart Attack, Myocardial Infarction, Clopidogrel, Ecotrin, Bayer Aspirin, Bufferin, Jantoven, Easprin, Buffered Aspirin, St Joseph Aspirin, Aspergum
Certain Reflux Drugs Tied to Higher Post-Angioplasty Death Rate
Posted 1 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Nov. 16 – People taking the acid reflux drugs Prilosec or Protonix in combination with blood thinners have a higher risk for death after angioplasty than people who don't take the two popular antacids, a new study has found. The people in the study, which is being presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Fla., were undergoing what doctors call "percutaneous coronary intervention," or PCI, a common procedure used to widen a narrowed artery. PCI typically involves balloon angioplasty followed by the insertion of a drug-emitting stent, a tiny mesh tube, to keep the vessel open. The new study does not prove that taking popular antacids, or reflux drugs, known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), along with clot-busting agents such as clopidogrel (Plavix) caused the increased mortality, one expert noted. "All this shows is that people taking ... Read more
Related support groups: Plavix, Nexium, Omeprazole, Prilosec, Protonix, Prevacid, Pantoprazole, Lansoprazole, Aciphex, Clopidogrel, Zegerid, Rabeprazole, Esomeprazole, Prilosec OTC, Prevacid SoluTab
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Heart Attack, Myocardial Infarction, Acute Coronary Syndrome, Ischemic Stroke, Platelet Aggregation Inhibition, Ischemic Stroke -- Prophylaxis, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, Transient Ischemic Attack, Acute Coronary Syndrome -- Prophylaxis