Xerelto - Not as Effective as Claimed?

http://www.pogo.org/blog/2015/11/fda-nominee-robert-califf-led-faulted-fda-trial.html?referrer=http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/6-prescription-drugs-arent-safe-government-claims

Here is an article discussing faulty testing of Xarelto during its FDA trials. If I read it correctly, with proper testing Xarelto would have failed the guidelines. The guy who oversaw the tests is now up for Commissioner of the FDA

It troubles me if correct. I will contact my doctor to raise this issue....

Anyone out there get off Xarelto for this or any reason?

azviking







8 Comments

Thanks for sharing that info!

by Good Dog - 2016-01-23 09:01:28

I have not taken it. We have an ad running on TV here from some lawyer. They are asking for people that have been harmed by Xarelto to contact them.
Obviously, this is not a good thing!

Sincerely,
David

On Xarelto

by parmeterr - 2016-01-24 03:01:08

Started taking Xarelto about 2 1/2" years ago due to atrial flutter problems. Go into atrial flutter on a consistent basis and have not had any problems yet. I do see all the TV adds but so far, no problems. Before Xarelto, I was on Warfarin without any problems. I do see my Cardiologist in about a month. Maybe something to discuss.

Richard

Blood Thinners

by donb - 2016-01-24 04:01:18

I have been on Xarelto for years having Atrial Fib. My Cardiologist put me on Eliquis a couple of years ago as I developed facial & scalp alergy. Actually it only helped for a few months.
I did find bruising & small bleeding cuts were much less with Eliquis. This brings up the question as how effective Eliquis really is ?? I did have lots of bruising & bleeds with Xarelto.
The TV alerts certainly don't give patients much support !!
I also would appreciate input on the Xarelto, especially now having switched to Eliquis as it's so much better with side effects, "But" how does this stack up with being effective ??
DonB

Need Input

by Good Dog - 2016-01-24 11:01:04

As I said previously, I don't currently take a blood thinner. However, it is likely that I will need to someday since I have had a couple minor incidences of A-fib.
If I do, I may have no choice but to take Warfarin anyway. I doubt that I can afford the new drugs. I see that they are $700-$800+/month. That is with my drug plan.
How do you afford that?

How do you decide which one ?

by IAN MC - 2016-01-24 12:01:51

Hi donb : As far as the effectiveness of blood-thinners goes, it is difficult to make a rational decision.

We only had warfarin for years and years and years then along come Pradaxa , Xarelto and Eliquis . It is a bit like waiting for a taxi; there are none around and then 3 arrive at the same time.

One problem is that there haven't been any head-to-head trials comparing the new ones with each other so it is impossible to know which, if any, is the best.

We thought that they were all at least as effective as warfarin and MAY cause fewer bleeds. Thanks azviking for your post; the flawed clinical trials really do bring Xarelto into question; they were unbelievably badly designed , were biased against warfarin and it is surprising that the FDA gave it a licence.

If I had to choose at the present time ( and we never know what bad news is around the corner with newish drugs ) I would go for warfarin or Eliquis.I would consider Eliquis because of the 18, 000 patient clinical trial which showed that it is slightly more effective than warfarin. But if I lived in the US where you have to pay for drugs then price could well become a factor as David says.

Best not to get a fib really !

Ian

Allergic to Warfarin

by ellen001 - 2016-01-26 04:01:01

I was on warfarin for 4 months and had every side effect possible...including all the rare ones like hair loss. All symptoms have now abated and my hair has grown back after changing to xarelto last May

Also on warfarin I attended weekly clinics for blood testing and only once was my blood in the 'normal' viscosity range'...otherwise it bounced around between way too thick and then way way too thin.

My insurance ChampVA (US military surviving spouse) covers all my meds with no copay... but because I was curious and asked ...the cost has been quoted to me by both doctor and pharmacy as around $300 a month that ChampVA pays for the Xarelto.

I don't have any bruising or bleeding issues... small cuts heal very quickly... and small bumps that used to bruise before blood thinners never show any discoloration... So I guess my doctor got the dose dialed in correctly on the first try.

However, I do intend to ask him about the FDA issues surrounding this med on my next visit in March... and also ask him about the symptoms I have noticed since starting this med... frequent headaches and a constant sense of tiredness have been the most noticeable ...

If anyone is interested....I'll be happy to share what he says in March...

with kind thoughts to all
ellen

Interesting !!

by donb - 2016-01-27 03:01:50

I really appreciate the comments as it's great to share info on the drugs we have prescribed to us.
DonB

Follow up...

by ellen001 - 2016-01-30 04:01:24

Contacted my MD team by telphone today and have been switched to Eliquis effective on Monday. Will still not talk to Dr. directly until mid-March... but team thought my issues with Xarelto were enough to switch meds now.

All my best
ellen

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