According to early information from the Pinnacle registry that is focused on patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), just under half of AF patients are being treated with anticoagulant medications like Multaq — made by Sanofi-Aventis.

What stands out about this information is that of the patients who take anticoagulants like Multaq that are listed in the registry, 87.4 percent are actually being treated with Warfarin and not Multaq (which has been recommended as a last-ditch treatment effort when other drugs fail to work). The reason for this is because Multaq has been found to cause liver failure and a worsening of the heart condition that can lead to death. Only 12.6 percent of AF patients have been taking any of the newer anticoagulants.

“We were a little bit surprised,” said Dr. William Oetgen (Georgetown University, Washington, DC) in reference to the relatively high number of patients who remained on Warfarin. “The efficacy and the safety of the novel oral anticoagulants, the two of them that are on the market, are better than Coumadin. The ease of administration is much better than Coumadin. . . . On balance, the drugs seem to be a therapeutic advancement, but the uptake has been slower than we thought it would be.”

It should be noted that the PINNACLE-AF registry is a part of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR). The PINNACLE-AF registry is meant to find out exactly how the newer medications are being used. The goal of PINNACLE is to help improve the overall care offered to AF patients. Newer drugs like Dabigatran and Rivaroxaban were recently approved by the FDA and are quickly gaining ground over Multaq, but have a way to go before they can reach Warfarin’s level of use. With this in mind, it may not be long before Multaq is completely forgotten about.

If you or a loved one has suffered from liver failure or a worsening heart condition after being treated with Multaq, contact the attorneys at Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Multaq lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your injuries.