Drugs Log

U.S. health officials have ordered all imports of the blood thinner heparin, and its raw ingredient, stopped at the border for testing to detect a contaminant linked to 19 deaths.
The Food and Drug Administration announced the move Friday, the latest step in its widening investigation of hundreds of allergic-type reactions linked to Baxter International’s heparin [...]

A new blood thinner proved better than Plavix, one of the world’s top-selling drugs, at preventing heart problems after procedures to open clogged arteries, doctors reported Sunday. But the new drug also raised the risk of serious bleeding.
People given the experimental drug, prasugrel, were nearly 20 percent less likely to suffer one of the problems [...]