GPs claim HSE failed to inform them of drugs risk

Doctors have claimed the HSE failed to tell them about potentially fatal flaws in how two blood-thinning drugs to fight stroke are being used on 4,000 people — despite officials knowing about the problems since last week.

Ray Walley, chair of the Irish Medical Organisation GP committee, made the allegations on national radio yesterday, arguing that he would be quicker getting the details from “a [carrier] pigeon” than health service management.

The medical warning surrounds two drugs, called Xarelto and Pradaxa, which have been developed to help in the fight against stroke, a serious debilitating brain condition that affects 10,000 people in Ireland every year.