Two new studies link Trasylol to higher death rates
Two new studies released last week confirm that patients given Trasylol - a clotting drug used during heart surgery to prevent bleeding - are more likely to die.
The latest studies were published in the Feb. 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. According to the Associated Press, the first study looked at Duke University Medical Center patients who had bypass surgery between 1996 and 2005. Researchers found that patients who were given Trasylol were two-and-a-half times more likely to die than patients who received a different drug or no treatment for excessive bleeding.
The second study included 78,000 patients who were given the drug between Jan. 1, 2003 and March 31, 2006. Researchers found that the risk of death for patients who received Trasylol had a 64 percent higher risk of death than patients who received a comparison drug.
The second study was funded by Bayer AG, the maker of Trasylol. The results were presented to the company in early September 2006, but the company did not reveal them to an FDA advisory committee during a meeting about the drug’s safety.
The conclusions of these studies are consistent with earlier reports that found Trasylol increased a patient’s risk of death and kidney damage compared with other drugs.
Last year, a rigorous Canadian study was halted because of deaths among patients taking Trasylol, also known as aprotinin. Last November, the Food and Drug Administration requested that the drug be pulled from the market.
The FDA approved Trasylol in 1993. Until it was taken off the market last fall, it was used on hundreds of thousands of heart bypass patients every year. What these studies suggest is that thousands of patients may have also died or suffered serious kidney damage as a result and that Bayer should have been aware of the problem.
If you or a loved one suffered complications after taking Trasylol contact Carey & Danis. We can help. Carey & Danis is a national law firm that represents individuals injured by America's largest corporations.
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