Saturday, 20 July 2013

Blood thinners


I am on warfarin and need to get my INR measured every month. Is there any other medication I can take that does not require all this blood work? This is getting to be expensive.
Yes, there are some newer blood thinning medications which do not require frequent blood work. Please ask your doctor for dabigatran (Pradaxa). However, I should warn you that almost all the newer blood thinners are prohibitively expensive. While you may not need frequent blood tests, the cost of these pills is significant. My advice is stick to warfarin as it has been around for more than 70 years, works well, and is cheap. The monthly blood test is not fun, but it is still cheaper then the newer blood thinners. 
You have to understand that the pharmaceutical industry and some doctors are in the business to make money.

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