Plavix + Heartburn Drugs May Double Risk of More Heart Attacks, New Research Finds

Plavix, the blood-thinner given to heart attack sufferers in order to prevent future attacks, can nearly double the risk of having another heart attack in patients also taking a type of heartburn drug, such as Prilosec, medical researchers have found.

Plavix is made by Sanofi-Aventis SA and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and is used to thin a patient’s blood following a heart attack. In many cases, a heartburn drug such as Prilosec may also be prescribed to reduce the patient’s risk of suffering life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding caused by the blood thinner.

A new study led by researchers at the Denver VA Medical Center and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association raises questions about the safety of that traditional treatment plan.

Increased Risks of Additional Heart Attacks Noted

Researchers tracked 8,205 people in the United States who were treated with Plavix and aspirin for either a heart attack or chest pain caused by a condition called unstable angina. Two-thirds of the people in the study also took Priolsec or another type of proton pump inhibitor (PPI).

The study found that people taking Plavix and Priolsec or another brand of PPI drug were nearly twice as likely to suffer another heart attack or recurrence of unstable angina compared to patients not taking the PPI.

Adverse Drug Interactions Suspected

The authors of the study said they suspect that interaction between clopidogrel, the active drug in Plavix, and PPI medications may be leading to the increased risk of subsequent heart attacks. The two drugs, when combined, could be responsible for thousands of repeat heat attacks in the U.S., the study said.

The researchers cautioned against prescribing Plavix and Prilosec or similar PPIs routinely to prevent repeat heart attacks, but some doctors urged that the study’s findings should be viewed cautiously and said PPIs are necessary in many heart-attack patients to prevent larger, life-threatening complications, such as fatal internal bleeding.

Plavix Linked to Other Problems

Plavix was approved in the U.S. in November, 1997 and has become a top-selling drug. However, it has been linked to severe injuries long before the most recent study findings.

The drug has been associated with serious gastrointestinal problems, including gastric and duodenal ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding. In 2005, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Plavix patients had more than 12 times as many ulcers as patients who took aspirin plus a heartburn pill.

While Plavix is widely regarded by cardiologists as being safer on the stomach than other drugs, some health care providers feel that aspirin plus a heartburn pill is safer and has the added benefit of being much less expensive than Plavix.

No related posts.