Patients taking dabigatran to prevent stroke should avoid simvastatin and lovastatin, study suggests

Patients taking the direct acting anticoagulant dabigatran for stroke prevention should not also take the statins simvastatin or lovastatin, researchers have warned.

A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that these two commonly used statins, when combined with dabigatran etexilate, increased the risk of major haemorrhage in two population based nested case control studies of over 45 000 patients.1

The Canadian Drug Safety and Effectiveness Research Network team identified 397 cases of ischaemic stroke and 1117 cases of major haemorrhage in 45 991 Ontarian patients over age 65 with non-valvular atrial …