Defective Drug-Eluting Stent Lawyers
Mobile, Alabama
Approximately one million people receive drug-eluting stents (sometimes spelled "drug eluding") in the United States each year. These stents are used to treat coronary artery disease, often as an alternative to bypass surgery, but they are creating medical problems that can be deadly.
Opening clogged arteries and keeping them open is often the key to preventing heart attacks. For years doctors have been searching for a safe and effective way to do this.
The Battle with Restenosis
Restenosis is a wound response causing the formation of scar tissue which narrows the artery and reduces blood flow. If restenosis progresses enough, revascularization to open the artery is required.
In the early 1980's, angioplasty involved using a balloon to open clogged arteries. While initially successful, the procedure often resulted in weakening and collapse of the artery wall or restenosis.
Bare metal stents, tiny wire mesh tubes, are used to keep the artery from closing . They succeeded in preventing artery collapse, but they, too, caused a wound response and restenosis.
Drug-eluting stents are metal stents coated with a drug that inhibits the wound response. They do prevent restenosis in most cases, but they have caused a new problem - late thrombosis.
Late Thrombosis
Drug-eluting stents prevent the formation of scar tissue, but because they do this, the body views them as foreign objects. Red blood cells and platelets begin to stick to the inside of the exposed stent and form a blood clot. The blood clot quickly blocks the artery and can cause a heart attack. It is estimated that over 2,000 people die from drug-eluting stents each year.
Life After Drug-Eluting Stent Insertion
The alternatives for those who have received drug-eluting stents are not inviting. Removal of the stent is dangerous and sometimes even impossible. Anti-clotting drugs are currently used to prevent late thrombosis, but they carry serious risks. All stent recipients are required to take anti-clotting drugs for at least six months after stent insertion. Many wind up having to take the drugs indefinitely.
The risks associated with anti-clotting drugs include excessive bleeding and stroke. Stopping use of anti-clotting drugs for just a short period of time can result in clot formation. Patients who contract food poisoning or a gastrointestinal illness, can easily go without their medication long enough to be in danger. Due to the risk of excessive bleeding, surgery cannot be safely performed without cessation of anti-clotting drugs.
Long-term use of anti-clotting drugs is also very expensive.
For more information, please see our Questions About Drug Eluting Stents page.
If you or a loved one has received a drug-eluting stent to treat coronary artery disease, please contact our Mobile, Alabama drug -eluting stent defect lawyers today to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation.
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