DR ANTHONY MELVIN CRASTO, Born in Mumbai in 1964 and graduated from Mumbai University, Completed his Ph.D from ICT, 1991,Matunga, Mumbai, India, in Organic Chemistry, The thesis topic was Synthesis of Novel Pyrethroid Analogues, Currently he is working with AFRICURE PHARMA, ROW2TECH, NIPER-G, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt. of India as ADVISOR, earlier assignment was
with GLENMARK LIFE SCIENCES LTD, as CONSUlTANT, Retired from GLENMARK in Jan2022 Research Centre as Principal Scientist, Process Research (bulk actives) at Mahape, Navi Mumbai, India. Total Industry exp 32 plus yrs, Prior to joining Glenmark, he has worked with major multinationals like Hoechst Marion Roussel, now Sanofi, Searle India Ltd, now RPG lifesciences, etc. He has worked with notable scientists like Dr K Nagarajan, Dr Ralph Stapel, Prof S Seshadri, etc, He did custom synthesis for major multinationals in his career like BASF, Novartis, Sanofi, etc., He has worked in Discovery, Natural products, Bulk drugs, Generics, Intermediates, Fine chemicals, Neutraceuticals, GMP, Scaleups, etc, he is now helping millions, has 9 million plus hits on Google on all Organic chemistry websites. His friends call him Open superstar worlddrugtracker. His New Drug Approvals, Green Chemistry International, All about drugs, Eurekamoments, Organic spectroscopy international,
etc in organic chemistry are some most read blogs He has hands on experience in initiation and developing novel routes for drug molecules
and implementation them on commercial scale over a 32 PLUS year tenure till date Feb 2023, Around 35 plus products in his career. He has good knowledge of IPM, GMP, Regulatory aspects, he has several International patents published worldwide . He has good proficiency in Technology transfer, Spectroscopy, Stereochemistry, Synthesis, Polymorphism etc., He suffered a paralytic stroke/ Acute Transverse mylitis in Dec 2007 and is 90 %Paralysed, He is bound to a wheelchair, this seems to have injected feul in him to help chemists all around the world, he is more active than before and is pushing boundaries, He has 100 million plus hits on Google, 2.5 lakh plus connections on all networking sites, 100 Lakh plus views on dozen plus blogs, 227 countries, 7 continents, He makes himself available to all, contact him on +91 9323115463, email amcrasto@gmail.com, Twitter, @amcrasto , He lives and will die for his family, 90% paralysis cannot kill his soul., Notably he has 38 lakh plus views on New Drug Approvals Blog in 227 countries......https://newdrugapprovals.wordpress.com/ , He appreciates the help he gets from one and all, Friends, Family, Glenmark, Readers, Wellwishers, Doctors, Drug authorities, His Contacts, Physiotherapist, etc
He has total of 32 International and Indian awards
DRUG APPROVALS BY DR ANTHONY MELVIN CRASTO
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New Drug Approvals 
Approved… yes, but still should be carefully discussed with one’s physician when comparing to warfarin…
The prescription drug Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) is a medication which has been prescribed to hundreds of thousands of patients to thin their blood thereby reducing the risk of stroke and blood clots when they have certain underlying heart disease such as atrial fibrillation or heart valve problems, but not artificial heart valves. On December 19, 2012, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued the following Safety Communication about Pradaxa: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing health care professionals and the public that the blood thinner (anticoagulant) Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) should not be used to prevent stroke or blood clots (major thromboembolic events) in patients with mechanical heart valves, also known as mechanical prosthetic heart valves. A clinical trial in Europe (the RE-ALIGN trial) was recently stopped because Pradaxa users were more likely to experience strokes, heart attacks, and blood clots forming on the mechanical heart valves than were users of the anticoagulant warfarin. There was also more bleeding after valve surgery in the Pradaxa users than in the warfarin users.”
Warfarin (Brand names include Coumadin, Jantoven, and Uniwarfin) has been on the United States market since about 1954. This well-known anticoagulant continues to be commonly prescribed to patients who are at risk of blood clots which can lead to serious consequences such as stroke and death. While warfarin has been time-tested and proves itself to be quite effective, and relatively safe (“safe” based on a risks and benefits analysis which considers the serious consequences of not anticoagulating patients at high risk of clotting). To maintain safety while taking warfarin , a patient must allow blood levels to be tested about every three months (to make sure there is not too much or too little in a patient’s system) and avoid foods which contain Vitamin K (such as many leafy green vegetables) which can render warfarin ineffective. Failure to take warfarin exactly as prescribed and to monitor warfarin levels can lead to uncontrolled bleeding which if not treated emergently can cause a patient to bleed to death. Fortunately, there are several antidotes to warfarin toxicity – all of which are commonly available to healthcare professionals. Antidotes include injectable Vitamin K, plasma (fresh frozen or cryosupermatant plasma), prothrombin complex concentrates, and recombinant factor VIIa.
One of the big “selling” points for Pradaxa as opposed to warfarin is that the patient taking Pradaxa does not have to submit himself or herself to regular blood draws and dietary restrictions. What promoters of Pradaxa conveniently do not tell physicians and patients is that there is no commonly available antidote for a Pradaxa overdose. Thus, should a patient’s Pradaxa levels reach a toxic level, he or she has a good chance of bleeding to death while physicians watch helplessly. Pradaxa levels are effected by advanced age, renal (kidney) function, extremes in body weight, and drug-drug interactions (aspirin, ibuprofen, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, and many other drugs commonly used by patients). In addition, should a patient on Pradaxa require emergency surgery (as a result of a motor vehicle accident, for example), he or she will be subject to uncontrolled bleeding and have a poor chance of successfully undergoing surgery. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “In early 2013, there is still no routine coagulation test suitable for monitoring these patients; specific tests are only available in specialized laboratories. In early 2013 there is no antidote for dabigatran, rivaroxaban or apixaban, nor any specific treatment with proven efficacy for severe bleeding linked to these drugs. Recommendations on the management of bleeding in this setting are based mainly on pharmacological parameters and on scarce experimen-Haemodialysis reduces the plasma concentration of dabigatran, while rivaroxaban and apixaban cannot be eliminated by dialysis.”
In the last few years, several thousand patients, who have suffered serious injuries including death, have sued Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the manufacturer of Pradaxa for failing to warn patients and their physicians about the serious adverse events that may result from taking Pradaxa. Many of these suits also allege that Boehringer promoted Pradaxa as being safer than warfarin.
If your physician has prescribed Pradaxa for you, you should immediately discuss whether there are safer alternative drugs for you. After weighing the risks and benefits, you and your physician can determine what drug is best for you. If you have taken Pradaxa, and have suffered uncontrollable bleeding, you should contact an attorney with experience in handling such lawsuits.
– Paul
Paul J. Molinaro, M.D., J.D.
Attorney at Law, Physician
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