


The longer the patient bleeds uncontrollably, the higher the risk of complications, including organ failure, brain damage, and death. In an emergency, before an unexpected surgery, or after a serious injury, doctors must deactivate any blood-thinners in a patient’s body as fast as possible. What these ads do not explain is the outcome for patients who do start bleeding. You may have seen ads for Eliquis claiming it has “less major bleeding” than warfarin. Not even dialysis (mechanically cleaning a patient’s blood) can remove Eliquis from a patient’s body. Eliquis cannot be deactivated with Vitamin K, unlike warfarin. Treatment with warfarin presents its own challenges, but one important advantage is that it can be reversed with a dose of Vitamin K. Warfarinįor over 50 years before Eliquis hit the market, most patients were prescribed warfarin. However, stopping bleeding in a patient on Eliquis presents unique challenges for an emergency physician. Bleeding is the most serious side effect of all blood-thinners, and Eliquis is no exception. Unfortunately, it has already been linked to a number of adverse events and deaths from uncontrollable bleeding. Eliquis and BleedingĮliquis (apixaban) belongs to a new class of blood-thinning medications that have only been on the market for a few years.

It is common for patients on blood-thinners to experience bleeding gums, hemorrhoids, nosebleeds, and more. Patients bleed more easily and it is harder to stop bleeding because they can’t make clots. Instead, they change blood chemistry to make it harder for blood clots to form. Blood-Thinners and Bleedingīlood-thinning drugs save lives by preventing harmful blood clots from forming in the body and causing strokes and heart attacks. However, an inability to form blood clots can result in excessive bleeding. In some cases, blood clots cause heart attacks and strokes. Blood clots prevent blood from escaping an injured blood vessel so the body can heal. They stick together with proteins, such as Factor Xa, which Eliquis blocks. Normally, blood clots are formed when platelets (red blood cells) stick together and plug an injured blood vessel. However, unlike warfarin, it has no reversal agent to stop bleeding in an emergency. When it hit the market in 2013, Eliquis was promoted as superior to warfarin. A growing number of people have been injured or died from severe, uncontrollable bleeding after taking the blood-thinner Eliquis.
