Pradaxa is a new blood thinning drug, and it is beginning to replace warfarin as the blood thinner of choice.

However, both of these drugs carry with them excessive internal bleeding side effects. Warfarin also comes with a few extra precautions that may make it a safer alternative.

Until recently, one of warfarin’s major advantages over Pradaxa in case of internal bleeding is the fact that there is an available antidote for warfarin. The antidote is used to counteract the internal bleeding side effects, allowing the blood to clot and aiding during emergency medical treatment.

A Pradaxa antidote was recently approved by the FDA. Without a Pradaxa antidote, internal bleeding complications carry with them a higher risk.

Warfarin also requires consistent blood testing, unlike Pradaxa. Requiring blood testing along with blood thinner treatment is common among anticoagulants, and is usually considered necessary.

While lack of blood testing makes Pradaxa seem even more attractive to patients who need blood thinners, the convenience of no testing may not be worth the potential risk.

Pradaxa Background

Pradaxa (dabigatran) was introduced to the drug market by its manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, back in 2010.

The drug’s allegedly dangerous side effects have caused the company to be targeted in thousands of lawsuits in the last year alone.

Blood thinners like are generally thought of to be a life-saving treatment, but the recent rush of lawsuits suggests that the risk might be more than patients originally thought.

These risks affect a great number of people, considering Pradaxa’s steadily increasing popularity. In just a few years, millions of Americans have switched to Pradaxa.

Pradaxa Internal Bleeding

Blood thinners, also known as anticoagulants, often cause excessive or unusual bruising or bleeding. This is an expected side effect, and is due to the body being unable to properly form blood clots while the blood is thinner.

Most people who take Pradaxa do not suffer from severe bleeding side effects, but to others, the drug can have serious and lasting side effects.

Some of these side effects include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Heart attacks
• Liver failure
• Uncontrollable bleeding
• Death

Uncontrollable or excessive bleeding is the most common of these side effects. Excessive bleeding can, in some cases, lead to brain hemorrhaging or even death.

Usually, when a person is suffering from internal bleeding, their body attempts to combat the effects by forming blood clots to slow the bleeding and allow for medical treatment. However, blood thinners can prevent these essential blood clots from forming, making it less likely for medical treatment to arrive in time.

Pradaxa Lawsuits

These serious Pradaxa bleeding side effects have caused many Pradaxa users to file lawsuits against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.

Pradaxa lawsuits, now in the thousands, allege that the drug’s manufacturer failed to adequately warn both the public and the medical community about their drug’s life-threatening bleeding side effects.

If you or someone you know has taken Pradaxa and has subsequently experienced any of the above symptoms, such as excessive bleeding or brain hemorrhaging, due to Pradaxa, you may have cause for filing an internal bleeding lawsuit.