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Every year thousands of people have major surgery. These surgeries help to alleviate pain, replace worn out parts, and save lives. After surgeries like knee or hip replacements, the patient can’t move around quite as well for a while. Because they will be sitting and lying for so long they run the risk of developing blood clots. These clots could travel to the lungs and cause pulmonary embolism, they could travel to the heart and cause a heart attack, or they could travel to the brain and cause a stroke. The good news is that medicine has advanced far enough to be able to prevent this. After surgery most joint replacement patients will be prescribed a blood thinner. This blood thinner helps to reduce the risk of blood clots forming, these clots could cause the potentially deadly side effects listed above. But the problems don’t stop there. For those who don’t have adequate insurance coverage, they go with a blood thinner called Coumadin (warfarin). This drug is hard to dose properly, and requires the patient to go in for regular blood tests. These tests will help the doctor to adjust the dosage as needed. The benefit is that this drug is significantly cheaper than its counterparts; and it has the benefit that if internal bleeding occurs the patient can take an influx of Vitamin K to reverse the effects of the drug. Xarelto is the other option for those who can afford it. It is easier to dose than warfarin, and therefore doesn’t require the regular blood tests. The problem is that it doesn’t have a reversal agent. Those who are taking Xarelto may develop internal bleeding, and the only thing that can be done is to wait for the drug to leave the system. This may lead to hospitalization, and potentially death. Xarelto has been under a lot of fire lately because of their failure to disclose the problems with their drug. If you have used Xarelto, and you have suffered from severe side effects, you need to talk with a dangerous drug attorney right away.
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blood clots, xarelto, bleeding, stroke, blood thinner, internal bleeding,
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