This might really improve things for a lot of people…

CHICAGO — A major study out Monday promises to transform stroke prevention for millions of people with atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm disorder that often sends blood clots swirling to the brain, researchers reported Monday.

The study of 14,000 patients found that a new one-a-day pill, rivaroxaban, prevents strokes as effectively as the current mainstay of treatment, Coumadin, without the need for routine testing to monitor patients’ ability to make blood clots and avoid unwanted bleeding, says Robert Califf, of the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, N.C.

If Ribvaroxaban is as effective as Coumadin, then the real effects will become clear when millions of people take it. You have the cost of blood tests as often as several times a week, and the cost of hospitalization when the Coumadin has too little or too much effect. It’s a tough drug to regulate if you are not able to take it as ordered and get the labs.

It’s always risk v. benefit. Stroke is a terrible kind of injury, and it makes sense to do anything possible to prevent it. If there’s a medication that gives the benefits without the close monitoring needed with Coumadin then it would save time for practitioners and stress for patients.