GC: n

S: RCH – http://www.rch.org.au/uploadedfiles/main/content/haematology/warfarin_information_for_parents_and_children_4_aug08_.pdf (last access: 13 February 2016); Drugs.com – http://www.drugs.com/warfarin.html (last access: 28 February 2013).

N: 1. Warfarin (n.): 1950, from WARF, acronym from Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation + -arin, from Coumarin. The organization describes itself as “an independent, nonprofit foundation chartered to support research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the designated technology transfer organization for the university.”
Coumadin (n.): by 1953, name for human anti-coagulant use of the rat poison warfarin sodium, abstracted from the chemical name, 3-(α-acetonylbenzyl) 4-hydroxycoumarin; earlier known as Dicoumarol, it attained publicity when it was used in 1955 to treat U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower after a heart attack. The coumarin element (1830) is from French coumarine, from coumarou, the native name in Guyana of the tonquin bean, one source of the substance.

2. Anticoagulant drug, marketed as Coumadin. Originally developed to treat thromboembolism (see thrombosis), it interferes with the liver’s metabolism of vitamin K, leading to production of defective coagulation factors. Warfarin therapy risks uncontrollable hemorrhage, either spontaneously or from any cut or bruise; it requires frequent checks to maintain the proper level in the blood. In high concentrations, warfarin is used as a rodent poison, causing death by internal bleeding.

S: 1. Etymonline – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=warfarin&searchmode=none (last access: 3 September 2014); DORLAND p. 2074. 2. EncBrit – http://www.britannica.com/science/warfarin (last access: 28 February 2013); Drugs.com – http://www.drugs.com/warfarin.html(external link) (last access: 28 February 2013).

SYN:
S:

CR: anticoagulant