Anticoagulants

Experience of setting up and running a referral scheme from the secondary care anticoagulant clinic to community pharmacies in Swindon

The new medicines service (NMS) is an advanced service in the community pharmacy contractual framework. It consists of community pharmacist structured interviews with patients during their first month of treatment with a new medicine. The service aims to improve medicines concordance and improve pat…

Row breaks out on whether GP practices should be funded for warfarin monitoring

Cash-strapped clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are increasingly pushing GP practices to prescribe and monitor specialist drugs that are outside their area of expertise, without paying for the extra work. …

Delaying anticoagulation treatment for atrial fibrillation increases dementia risk, study suggests

Results reinforce the importance of starting anticoagulation treatment as soon as possible after diagnosis, researchers conclude.…

Intracranial haemorrhage risk of warfarin unrelated to INR control

Study results show that choosing apixaban over warfarin could reduce the risk of anticoagulation-related intracranial haemorrhage.…

Dagibatran carries reduced fracture risk compared with warfarin

Among patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, study data show the use of dabigatran rather than warfarin was associated with a lower risk of osteoporotic fracture.…

Genotype-guided dosing improves safety of warfarin

Older adults who received a genotype-guided dose of warfarin via a web application were less likely to experience adverse effects compared with clinical dosing, trial results show.…

Atrial fibrillation patients not receiving guideline-recommended drugs to reduce stroke risk

Retrospective data analysis results show that the 16% of patients who were given anticoagulant prior to stroke showed reduction in stroke severity, lower odds of mortality and better functional outcomes.…

Rivaroxaban more effective than aspirin for preventing blood clots, study results suggest

Rivaroxaban is as safe as aspirin and more effective at preventing recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients who were in equipoise for continued anticoagulants, a study shows.…

Danish study confirms brain haemorrhage risk associated with anticoagulation

Patients prescribed antithrombotic drugs, such as low-dose aspirin, clopidogrel or warfarin, are at increased risk of having a subdural haematoma, research published in JAMA has confirmed.…

Safety issues highlighted with newer oral anticoagulant drugs

Analysis of ‘real-life’ data comparing newer direct oral anticoagulants with warfarin has identified adverse drug reactions (ADRs) ‘not previously associated’ with the new treatments, including hip fracture.…