For patients at risk for thromboembolic complications who have trouble with adherence to warfarin therapy or prefer not to be treated with warfarin, newer direct-acting oral anticoagulants may be an option. Michael A. Evans, BS, RPh, explores the advantages and limitations of treating patients with direct-acting oral anticoagulants.
Mr Evans remarks that unlike with warfarin, regular monitoring is not required with the direct-acting oral anticoagulants, as their anticoagulant effect is predictable. There are no known food interactions with the direct-acting oral anticoagulants; however, drug-drug interactions are still of concern.
The direct-acting oral anticoagulants have a short half-life, and thus missed doses and a lack of patient adherence leave patients at risk for thromboembolic events within a short time frame, says Mr Evans.
Should a patient who is being treated with a direct-acting oral anticoagulant experience a thromboembolic event, it is more difficult to determine whether the event was related to a lack of adherence or drug failure, notes Mr Evans. This may be easier to determine for patients who are treated with warfarin, he adds.
Mr Evans explains that a patient’s age, their risk for bleeding events, and cost are all factors that affect a physician’s decision to treat a patient with warfarin versus a direct-acting oral anticoagulant.
Study Highlights Significant Increases in Utilization, Spending on DMD Drugs in Medicaid
May 17th 2024The findings add to recent research on the growing utilization, expenditure, and prices of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) therapies in the current landscape, an area health care policy could potentially address.
Read More
Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity: Urban Health Outreach
May 9th 2024In the series debut episode of "Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity," Mary Sligh, CRNP, and Chelsea Chappars, of Allegheny Health Network, explain how the Urban Health Outreach program aims to improve health equity for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Listen
Panel Addresses Minority Physician Shortage, Maternal Health at Senate Committee Hearing
May 15th 2024The senate hearing held by the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I, Vermont), chairman of the committee, and ranking member Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, (R, Louisiana), addressed the critical issue of physician and health care worker shortages, as well as the maternal health crisis, in the US.
Read More
Oncology Onward: A Conversation With Thyme Care CEO and Cofounder Robin Shah
October 2nd 2023Robin Shah, CEO of Thyme Care, which he founded in 2020 with Bobby Green, MD, president and chief medical officer, joins hosts Emeline Aviki, MD, MBA, and Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, to discuss his evolution as an entrepreneur in oncology care innovation and his goal of positively changing how patients experience the cancer system.
Listen
A new study highlights significant disparity in reimbursement rates across states between hospitals and Medicare; the first patient to receive a genetically modified pig kidney has died; research examines outcomes of over 500 patients receiving medication abortion pills by mail.
Read More