Is Praxada An Alternative To Heparin?

Article: Is Praxada An Alternative To Heparin?

Recalls of the anti-clotting drug, Heparin, have created panic among patients who must have surgery. They fear that the batch of Heparin they receive may be contaminated and expose them to the adverse reactions that so many have experienced. But, is there an alternative to Heparin?

Praxada

Praxada is an anti-clotting drug that was recently released in the United Kingdom. Clinical tests show that it is just as effective as Heparin. Manufactured by Biovision, it is available to patients who have had a hip or knee replaced, which increases their risk of suffering a blood clot for around six weeks after the operation. However, the drug just received approval in the UK, so getting approved in the United States may take a while – especially now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has come under fire for not catching the Heparin problem sooner – which led to 81 deaths.

Why didn’t the FDA catch the problem sooner?

That’s what many people are asking – and more specifically, Congress. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report showing that the FDA cannot adequately do its job with the resources it currently has. One example of that came from foreign plant inspections. The GAO estimated that the FDA would need to spend between $67 and $71 million to inspect foreign plants once every two years. The FDA has only budgeted $11 million – meaning that many plants will simply not be inspected. Despite the FDA’s attempt to do more inspections, the GAO report says that the FDA still isn’t doing enough.

That report is now in front of Congress and the FDA is under fire. In a heated confrontation between Acting FDA Commissioner, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach and Representative John Dingle of Michigan, Dingle told Eschenbach that he had “ill will of the most gross sort” for Eschenbach’s failure to procure the funds needed for the FDA to do its job. Reuters posted a video of the confrontation on You Tube. To view it, go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGMVSVk00GM/.

If you’ve been given Heparin, contact an attorney whose practice focuses in this area of the law. Consultations are free, without obligation and are strictly confidential. To contact a qualified attorney, please click here. We may be able to help.