clipped from: www.mail.com   
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

A new blood thinner proved better than Plavix, one of the world's top-selling drugs, at preventing heart problems after procedures to open clogged arteries, doctors reported Sunday. But the new drug also raised the risk of serious bleeding.

People given the experimental drug, prasugrel, were nearly 20 percent less likely to suffer one of the problems in a combined measure -- heart attack, stroke or heart-related death -- than those given Plavix, a drug that millions of Americans take to prevent blood clots that cause these events

many doctors said that on balance, the new drug comes out ahead
as a more potent alternative to Plavix
"I'm encouraged by the results" and think prasugrel should win Food and Drug Administration approval because it so dramatically cuts non-fatal heart attacks, said the Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Steven Nissen, a frequent government adviser
Like Plavix, prasugrel prevents blood components called platelets from sticking together and forming a clot.