Balancing Risks & Benefits

All blood thinners come with a risk of bleeding. So how can you know that a blood thinner will be right for you? Before prescribing a blood thinner, your healthcare professional may evaluate treatment options for you based on:

Your risk for blood clots
Your risk for bleeding

If you and your healthcare professional choose XARELTO^®, it is because the benefit of helping to protect you against blood clots and their potentially devastating effects outweighs your risk of bleeding.

Understanding the Types of Bleeding

It’s important to understand that when healthcare professionals talk about bleeding risks with blood thinners, they are considering two different types of bleeding.

Minor or "nuisance" bleeds like bruising or bleeding of the gums

Major bleeds, like those that occur in the brain, can be devastating and life threatening

It is important to tell your doctor about any bleeding you might experience.

Now that you know there is more than one type of bleeding, it may help to ask your healthcare professional about the rates of both minor and major bleeding seen in clinical studies.

Evaluating Clinical Studies

The health of people taking part in a clinical study can affect how well the drug works and also the type and severity of side effects.

However, XARELTO^® has been studied in more than 196,000 people and was proven to be safe and effective.

Clinical studies vs Real-World Evidence

The safety and efficacy of prescription medicines are supported by “clinical trials”—controlled and rigorous studies—and “real-world evidence”—results obtained from actual clinical practice like doctor’s offices and hospitals. With XARELTO^®, results from both clinical trials and real-world evidence are generally consistent. This should give you additional confidence that the results you learn about are the ones you may experience.