Doctors hopeful easier blood thinners are nearing

Three experimental drugs have doctors hopeful that millions of people at risk of lethal blood clots may soon get easier treatment. The drug research comes as Medicare is considering withholding payment from hospitals when at-risk patients develop clots in their veins, a common preventable cause of hospital deaths. The National Quality Forum has estimated that only about a third of patients who need protective blood thinners while hospitalized get them.