Almost 20 million prescriptions are written for warfarin each year in the US and yet it is one of the most problematic drugs in the modern medical formulary. Warfarin has a narrow therapeutic window and the hemorrhagic or thrombotic implications of modest over- or under-dosing can be devastating. Warfarin is one of the leading causes of emergency department visits and hospitalizations due to adverse drug events worldwide. Adverse events from warfarin are more common during the initial months of treatment before the optimal dose is determined. Moreover, there is substantial individual variation in response to warfarin necessitating frequent monitoring and dosage adjustments. The monitoring and dosing of warfarin is so problematic that many primary care physicians have abdicated this role to specialized "warfarin clinics" which are devoted solely to following patients on this agent. Unfortunately, no good alternatives to warfarin exist for the common indications requiring chronic anticoagulation such as atrial fibrillation, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and artificial heart valves.