Vioxx was once touted to be the drug that would be the new standard for anti-inflammatories until it was found to increase your chance of MI by 33% and cause hypertension.
Dabigatran was recently pulled from Japan markets and now is dealing with an impressive meta-analysis by Uchino et al. It showed that dabigatran was significantly associated with higher risk of MI or ACS than other agents.
Control arms (included warfarin, enoxaparin or placebo): MI rate 83 per 10,514
Dabigatran arms: MI rate 237 per 20,000
OR 1.33; 95% CI, 1.03-1.71; p=0.03
The rush for what is perceived as a panaceae for all that is wrong with coumadin could actually cause an MI while it tries to prevent a stroke in nonvalvular a-fib.
Look at the study and decide for yourself and remember Vioxx:
