Popular Blood-thinner Manufacturer Didn’t Want Internal Research Made Public

Boehringer Ingelheim, the manufacturer of the blood-thinning drug Pradaxa, was concerned that releasing the results of an internal research paper on the drug would damage drug sales, records recently made public show. The company was so worried about the results of the study that some employees pressured the author to revise it, and the company recommended it be thrown out, according to a recent report by the New York Times.Records recently made public by a federal judge in Illinois presiding over thousands of lawsuits against the maker of Pradaxa, including emails, internal memos, and presentations, centered on the research project and whether it would be damaging to Pradaxa’s main selling point: that users of the drug aren’t required to undergo regular blood work while taking Pradaxa.Pradaxa (dabigatran) was approved in 2010 as an alternative to an existing anti-clotting drug, warfarin. Both are anticoagulants used to prevent and treat blood clots and reduce the risk of stroke, but Boehringer Ingelheim marketed its drug as less of a nuisance than warfarin, which requires frequent blood tests and careful monitoring.Unfortunately, Pradaxa has been linked to more than 1,000 deaths in the United States. Since 2010, an unprecedented number of adverse events related to the drug have been reported to the FDA. Experts have also questioned the reliability of an FDA study affirming the safety of Pradaxa.Pradaxa has claimed superiority to warfarin. However, documents prepared by t...
Source: Medical Hemostat - Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Source Type: blogs