Diseases & Conditions
Ask the doctor: Safety of newer anti-clotting medications
All of these so-called blood thinners (including warfarin) increase the risk of serious internal bleeding, such as in the brain or stomach. Over all, there have been more reports of bleeding with the newer agents, but that's partly because doctors are much more likely to report side effects from newer drugs and less likely to report well-known side effects from older drugs such as warfarin, which has been used for more than 60 years. That can lead to the incorrect impression that a new drug is causing more problems.
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