Eliquis, known generically as apixaban, is manufactured by Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb, and was approved for use by the FDA in 2012 as a blood thinner. However, this new blood thinner has no existing reversal agent for Eliquis bleeding events.

Eliquis Basics

Eliquis works by keeping the platelets in a person’s blood from clotting. It inhibits Factor Xa, one of the basic factors in bleeding and clotting. Eliquis is used to lower the risk of stroke caused by blood clots in patients with atrial fibrillation, or AFib, not caused by a heart valve problem.

In other cases, Eliquis is given to people who have had hip or knee replacements to prevent deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, after surgery. DVT can cause a pulmonary embolism (PE), a blood clot in the lungs.

Eliquis can also be prescribed to decrease a person’s risk of having another DVT or PE.

However, Eliquis and other new blood thinners have been linked to an increased risk of uncontrolled internal bleeding with no existing antidote. Warfarin also prevents blood from clotting, but it has an antidote in the form of vitamin K. If patients who take Warfarin experienced uncontrolled bleeding received medical attention in time the anticoagulant effects could be reversed.

New generation blood thinning medications do not currently have an approved antidote and there is no way to reverse the effects in the event that bleeding occurs.

Eliquis Bleeding Side Effects

As with other blood thinners, there are a number of potential side effects while taking Eliquis. The most common side effects were related to an increased risk of potentially fatal Eliquis bleeding. Since it thins the blood, it makes bleeding more difficult to stop as well. Other Eliquis bleeding side effects include:

• Stroke
• Retinal Hemorrhages
• Epidural Hematoma
• Intracranial Hemorrhages
• Pulmonary Embolism
• Hemoglobin Decrease
• Gastrointestinal Hemorrhages
• Deep Vein Thrombosis
• Adrenal Bleeding
• Death

Problems with Eliquis

Eliquis has been marketed by its drug makers as more effectively reducing stroke risk and causing less major bleeding than warfarin, a drug that’s been prescribed for decades. Unlike warfarin, Eliquis does not require a strict diet or blood monitoring.

But, like other newer anticoagulants on the market, there is no antidote that can counteract Eliquis bleeding complications.

This means people who take Eliquis could be at risk for irreversible bleeding, life-threatening internal bleeding and death. Warfarin, however, can be de-activated with a dose of vitamin K.

Currently, an Eliquis bleeding reversal agent is being sought by drug makers Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb with some favorable data in December of 2014 regarding an Eliquis bleeding reversal agent called andexanet alfa, which reportedly performed well during trial studies.

With that data, the drug makers are seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Eliquis bleeding reversal agent to be available on the market soon.

Still, if even approved, this Eliquis bleeding reversal agent may have come too late for hundreds of Eliquis patients who suffered or died from an uncontrollable Eliquis bleeding event.