Study shows Stroke risk high when Xarelto (Bayer HealthCare) stopped

Patients with irregular heartbeats who are taken off anti-clotting medication Xarelto (rivaroxaban), from Bayer HealthCare, face a high risk of Stroke within a month. Researchers analyzed data from the Phase III ROCKET AF trial following concerns about possible increased rates of Stroke and blood clots after discontinuing Xarelto. They found strokes and blood clots occurred at similar rates with either Xarelto or warfarin after a temporary interruption (6.20/100 patient-years for those on Xarelto vs. 5.05/100 patient-years for those taking warfarin). Rates for both drugs were also similar after permanently stopping the medicines (25.60/100 patient-years for people taking Xarelto vs. 23.38/100 patient-years for those on warfarin). But Strokes and blood clots occurred more often in the transition from Xarelto to open label therapy (6.42/100 patient-years vs. warfarin 1.73/100 patient-years). The risk seems to be high only for Stroke. There was no difference between the drugs when investigators evaluated all blood clot-related events (including strokes, heart attack and vascular death) within 30 days of stopping medication. The data was presented at the American Heart Association's Emerging Science Series webinar.