Prasugrel is a medication used to prevent serious or life-threatening problems with the heart and blood vessels in people who have had a heart attack or severe chest pain and have been treated with angioplasty (procedure to open the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart) . It is given to patients before they have a heart procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) . Prasugrel is in a class of medications called anti-platelet medications. It works by preventing platelets (a type of blood cell) from collecting and forming clots that may cause a heart attack or stroke. Prasugrel is available only with a doctors prescription and is usually taken once a day with or without food. It is important to take prasugrel at around the same time every day and to swallow the tablet whole; do not split, break, chew, or crush it.