Patients who are prescribed the oral anticoagulant drug Pradaxa are not always distinctly aware of all of the side effects that come with the use of the drug. Many patients simply feel that their doctors know best and don’t always feel the need to question their prescribing actions.

However, some patients who went on to experience uncontrollable bleeding from Pradaxa feel that had they known about this serious side effect, they may have chosen a different medication altogether.

Pradaxa (dabigatran) was initially released onto the market in 2010 and is one of three medications referred to as new generation oral anticoagulants. These new medications were all made as an alternative to warfarin, an oral blood thinning medication that was nearly exclusively used for the last 60 years.

These blood thinner alternatives promised easier dosing, less frequent patient monitoring, and an absence of dietary restrictions that were all seen to be improvements over warfarin.

While the new generation oral anticoagulants did deliver in these areas, what some patients didn’t realize was that uncontrollable bleeding from Pradaxa and the other new medications had no antidote, setting up potentially life-threatening situations for many patients.

Doctors prescribe Pradaxa to patients suffering from atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm him that carries an increased risk of developing blood clots that can lead to heart attack and stroke. By inhibiting these blood clots from forming, the risk of heart attack and stroke is reduced.

Pradaxa is also used to treat and prevent pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis and is used preventatively during major surgery, such as knee replacement surgery or hip replacement surgery to reduce the risk of blood clots.

Pradaxa is very effective in preventing blood clots in susceptible patients. But for the first five years it was on the market, it lacked a way to have its anticoagulant effects reversed when needed.

With warfarin, fresh frozen plasma or intravenous vitamin K could be administered to reverse the anticoagulant effects of the drug. With Pradaxa, no reversal agent or antidote was available until 2015.

When Pradaxa patients experienced uncontrollable bleeding before a reversal agent was developed, there was no way to quickly reinstate the body’s clotting mechanisms to stop the bleed. Patients could be hospitalized to stabilize them, but physicians had to wait until the medication was processed out of the patient’s body before the blood would start clotting again to stop any uncontrollable bleeding from Pradaxa.

For some patients, being stabilized in a hospital was not enough. Many patients suffered fatal consequences due to uncontrollable bleeding.

Fortunately, in the fall of 2015, the makers of Pradaxa released an antidote to reverse the anticoagulant effects of the drug. The antidote, Praxabind, can now help patients who are suffering from uncontrollable bleeding from Pradaxa.

However, this reversal agent does not work for patients taking the other two new generation oral anticoagulant drugs, Eliquis and Xarelto. Nor did it help any of the patients that suffered during the first five years that Pradaxa was on the market without a reversal agent.

Filing a Lawsuit over Uncontrollable Bleeding from Pradaxa

If you or a loved one suffered from uncontrollable bleeding from Pradaxa, you may be eligible to seek legal compensation for your injuries. An experienced Pradaxa attorney can review your case at no charge and can discuss the legal options that are available to you.