Warfarin--I see the ads for this on TV--to be taken by humans.

[panader0]

When I was 16 or 17 and worked summers for Manpower in Honolulu, I delivered 55 gallon drums of warfarin to most of the big hotels in Waikiki. Lots of rats. The warfarin killed 'em. Now it's for people too. Unreal.
From Wikipedia:
snip

To this day, the so-called "coumarins" (4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives) are used as rodenticides for controlling rats and mice in residential, industrial, and agricultural areas. Warfarin is both odorless and tasteless, and is effective when mixed with food bait, because the rodents will return to the bait and continue to feed over a period of days until a lethal dose is accumulated (considered to be 1 mg/kg/day over about six days). It may also be mixed with talc and used as a tracking powder, which accumulates on the animal's skin and fur, and is subsequently consumed during grooming. The LD50 is 50–500 mg/kg. The IDLH value is 100 mg/m³ (warfarin; various species).[70]

The use of warfarin itself as a rat poison is now declining, because many rat populations have developed resistance to it, and poisons of considerably greater potency are now available. Other 4-hydroxycoumarins used as rodenticides include coumatetralyl and brodifacoum, which is sometimes referred to as "super-warfarin", because it is more potent, longer-acting, and effective even in rat and mouse populations that are resistant to warfarin. Unlike warfarin, which is readily excreted, newer anticoagulant poisons also accumulate in the liver and kidneys after ingest

snip

[uppityperson]

1. People have taken coumadin for quite a long time. What is this snipped from?

[panader0]

2. Wiki

I grew up knowing warfarin as a rat poison.

[uppityperson]

3. I know it is probably due to quality control, FDA and cya, but why does it coat more in tiny

pill form than in larger pellets for rats. Dosage, quality control, etc etc as well as who makes money off it but not to get too far off track, will stop with that line of thought.

[sharp_stick]

6. It's the same stuff

warfarin kills rats by basically making them bleed to death. In smaller doses, heavily monitored, in people it acts as a blood thinner and can prevent heart attacks.

It's been used for years but is being taken over by newer, much easier to use and safer drugs like Eliquis.

[Kali]

4. goes to show dosage determines poison

rats are becoming resistant, but as we recently found out when my niece tried to use poison for a mouse problem, the new stuff is much more toxic to dogs/pets that might also ingest it.

(I was so pissed, I have tried to instill in my kids, if not everybody on DU that snap traps are the only humane way to deal with rats and mice, not to mention safe! she though her new puppy had eaten some bait)

exclusion, and then lethal trapping (or predators) are the most effective, least cruel and safest ways to deal with rodent pests. glue is cruel as hell, poison is dangerous for pets, kids and wild predators (and the old stuff would make them seek water so they would drown in your water tanks!) trap and release is a bullshit feel-good, fool-yourself exercise that is either more cruel than snap traps or just passes the problem on to someone else.

oh sorry

[panader0]

5. Around here, every critter is safe, as long as they are outdoors.

Even after all my years here I am a newcomer compared to the natives, the rats, snakes, coyotes, javelina, hawks and more.
But no rodents allowed, no bugs either in the house. I pick a daddy long leg spider up gently and put him outside.
Agree about the snap traps. I went around my place and sealed every place imaginable several years ago- no more mice.
Rats got in my truck motor when I didn't used it for two weeks--set up camp on the carb.

[Kali]

7. oh hell I leave the spiders, unless my friend from Germany is here

I need help with the flies

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Warfarin is an anti-coagulant; it minimizes the formation of blood clots.

A clot, or thrombosis, is what sets off heart attacks, so those prone to heart attacks or other clotting can benefit from small, regular, doses of coumadin (aka warfarin). Rats like to eat their fill of the stuff, until they O.D., which results in internal bleeding. Just because a massive overdose is lethal doesn't mean small doses aren't safe. If rats liked aspirin we'd feed them overdoses of that, I'm sure.

Warfarin is a simple analog of a natural product known as dicoumarol, which was found to be the cause of a bleeding disease in cattle, and is produced by fungi in moldy hay. It has several complications, including a requirement for blood monitoring and interactions with other drugs and even foods. So while it's not a horribly harmful drug, it has its problems.

The ads I see on TV are for a newer drug, which the mfgr claims has advantages over warfarin, and requires no more blood monitoring.

"Warfarin", BTW, is obviously a contrived name. One shouldn't judge books by their covers, nor medicines by their names.

By coincidence, I was teaching my class about the Michael addition recently. Warfarin is obviously made by a Michael addition, so it seems like a candidate for an exam question.

[Jenoch]

9. I thnk this thread was started out of ignorance.

[blackcrowflies]

10. yes, ignorance, at DU as well as elsewhere

It exists, what can one say.

As to at least one of the substitutes for Warfarin, the problem with that one whose name escapes me is that it can't be quickly reversed, which may need to be done in an emergency. Warfarin can be counteracted quickly, if I remember correctly.

Also, always interesting to see Hisapedia quoted as a "reliable source."

[blue neen]

11. It can also be poison to humans if they happen to have VKORC1 Warfarin Resistance.

http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/106/12/3683?sso-checked=true

It's killing people everyday, and not all hematologists are aware of this genetic problem and that testing exists to identify it.