Quoted from http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120822/NEWS07/308220114/Nashville-heart-doctors-react-Pradaxa-reports
Nashville heart doctors react to Pradaxa reports
Bobby Allyn
The Tennessean
Since a spate of reports have emerged questioning the safety and effectiveness of a stroke-prevention drug whose national sales last year topped $1 billion, some cardiologists are prescribing the drug more cautiously while others maintain that the harsh accounts are overblown.
According to Dr. Keith Churchwell, executive director of Vanderbilt’s Heart and Vascular Institute, the therapeutic effects of blood-thinner Pradaxa happen more quickly than other drugs. Also, the drug requires fewer exams and dietary restrictions.
“The big reason there’s been a slow response to putting more patients on Pradaxa is because of the significant bleeding. Right now, we don’t have a good mechanism to reverse it,” he said.
Conversely, Dr. George Crossley, who leads the cardiology program at Baptist Hospital, said his team of heart specialists were among the country’s first to test Pradaxa, and by his estimate, the drug is a striking improvement from Coumadin, which has been the leading blood-thinning drug for more than 50 years.