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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

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

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

Certain Antidepressants With Blood Thinners May Pose Risk for Heart Patients

Posted 26 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Sept. 26 – Heart attack patients who take both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants and antiplatelet drugs such as aspirin or Plavix have a higher risk for bleeding than those who take anti-clotting drugs only, a new study finds. Commonly prescribed SSRIs include Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil and Lexapro. Antiplatelet drugs prevent blood cells from sticking together and forming a blood clot. Heart attack patients are commonly prescribed antiplatelet therapy to reduce their risk of another heart attack. But there's an increased risk of bleeding, which increases even further when certain other drugs are taken at the same time. It so happens that many heart attack patients have depression symptoms and are prescribed antidepressants, noted the researchers at McGill University in Montreal. "We're always concerned about how other medicines might interact with the ... Read more

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

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

New Blood Thinner Beats Plavix When Paired With Low-Dose Aspirin

Posted 27 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, June 27 – Brilinta, an experimental anti-clotting medication currently awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, performed better than the industry standard, Plavix, when used in tandem with low-dose aspirin, a new study finds. Heart patients who took Brilinta (ticagrelor) with low-dose aspirin (less than 300 milligrams) had fewer cardiovascular complications than those taking Plavix (clopidogrel) plus low-dose aspirin, researchers found. However, patients who took Brilinta with higher doses of aspirin (more than 300 milligrams) had worse outcomes than those who took Plavix plus high-dose aspirin, the investigators reported. Antiplatelet drugs are used to prevent potentially dangerous blood clots from forming in patients with acute coronary syndrome, including those who have had a heart attack. Brilinta has already been approved for use in many other countries. In ... Read more

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

Higher Plavix Dose Won't Boost Outcomes After Stent Placement: Study

Posted 17 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Nov. 16 – Higher doses of the blood-thinner Plavix were no better at preventing heart attacks, blood clots or death than the standard lower dose in patients who had received artery-opening stents, new research shows. The higher dose – double the usual amount – was tested in patients with "high platelet reactivity," meaning they failed to respond to the drug at lower doses. Plavix (clopidogrel) helps prevent clots from forming in patients who have low platelet reactivity and who have had stents inserted to prop open blocked arteries. But the new study "doesn't support" physicians using the higher, 150-milligram dose of Plavix after stenting, according to study lead author Dr. Matthew Price, who presented the findings Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago. So, the study leaves an important question unanswered: How to treat heart patients ... Read more

Related support groups: Plavix

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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