The adverse side effects of Pradaxa can be extreme, sometimes escalating to major bleeding problems, heart attacks, or death.

Pradaxa Background

Pradaxa (also known by its generic name, dabigatran) is one of the new generation of anticoagulants steadily replacing the old market staple, warfarin.

Anticoagulants like Pradaxa are used to prevent blood clots, since they can lead to serious problems like stroke.

Patients at particular risk of stroke or other such conditions are often prescribed Pradaxa or other blood thinners to reduce the risk of blood clotting.

Pradaxa works to combat blood clots by blocking thrombin, the protein that causes blood clotting in the first place.

Pradaxa has been marketed as a new and simpler-to-use blood thinner than warfarin. Warfarin has always required frequent blood testing, but a major selling point of Pradaxa is that it does not require that kind of constant monitoring.

However, Pradaxa carries with it some of its own potential problems. The new anticoagulant has been linked with serious adverse side effects, including major bleeding problems, which are of major concern to patients and the medical community.

Adverse Side Effects of Pradaxa

Pradaxa’s adverse side effects can range anywhere from very mild problems that go away on their own, to very severe conditions that can be life-threatening. More minor Pradaxa side effects include the following:

• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Heartburn
• Indigestion
• Itching
• Nausea
• Skin rash

There are also a number of serious adverse side effects of Pradaxa. Some of the more dangerous adverse side effects of Pradaxa include, but are not limited to:

• Heart attacks
• Liver failure
• Major bleeding
• Death

Major bleeding is also associated with warfarin and other anticoagulants. Warfarin has an antidote to stop excess bleeding, a reversal agent that can be used to prevent a patient from losing too much blood. A reversal agent for Pradaxa became available only recently.

Pradaxa bleeding side effects are not always fatal, as patients may be able to get to the hospital in time to control the bleeding. But the situation can still be very dangerous. Patients taking Pradaxa should be aware and alert of adverse side effects and their symptoms.

Pradaxa Lawsuits

These serious Pradaxa bleeding side effects have caused many Pradaxa users to file lawsuits against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, the drug’s manufacturer.

Thousands of Pradaxa lawsuits have been filed against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, alleging that the manufacturer failed to adequately warn both the public and the medical community about their drug’s life-threatening bleeding side effects.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals has reached settlements for previous Pradaxa lawsuits, but the company has still denied wrongdoing in these cases.

If you or someone you know has taken Pradaxa and has subsequently experienced any adverse side effects of Pradaxa, such as excessive bleeding or brain hemorrhaging, you may have cause for filing a Pradaxa bleeding lawsuit.