NIH pauses enrollment of critically ill patients in trials testing blood thinners against COVID-19

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Tuesday it had paused enrollment of critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care unit support in its trials testing blood thinners against the respiratory illness.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Tuesday it had paused enrollment of critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care unit support in its trials testing blood thinners against the respiratory illness. Enrollment continues for moderately ill hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the agency said.

All trial sites have paused enrollment in this group of most critically ill hospitalized COVID-19 patients, based on deliberations of data review boards consisting of independent experts, the NIH said in a statement. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-activ-trial-blood-thinners-pauses-enrollment-critically-ill-covid-19-patients Increased bleeding is a known complication of full-dose blood thinners and a potential for harm in this group could not be overruled, the agency said.

The NIH in September announced the launch of two of the three late-stage clinical trials to test the effectiveness and safety of different types of blood thinners in treating COVID-19 among adults.