Fda Panel Wants Heart Drug Approved

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended Thursday that the anticoagulant drug Coumadin be approved as a way to prevent second heart attacks, its manufacturer said.

Coumadin helps keep blood from clotting. It is already approved to prevent and treat blood clots in veins, embolisms and other problems.

DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. said the FDA’s Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee recommended that Coumadin - known generically as crystalline warfarin sodium - be approved to prevent second heart attacks and complications such as strokes.

Any change in the drug’s labeling must await final approval from the FDA itself.

The panel acted after reviewing studies that indicated anticoagulants lowered the risk of death, a repeat heart attack and strokes in patients who had suffered their first heart attack.