Xarelto lawsuit & complications | Defective blood clot medication
Xarelto is used to both prevent and treat blood clots. It is prescribed to people who either have atrial fibrillation or have had certain certain procedures and are at risk for clotting. The medication is an anticoagulant that acts against certain proteins in the blood that can cause clotting. However, patients who have experienced emergencies report that Xarelto allegedly causes uncontrollable bleeding. In addition, instead of preventing blood clots, Xarelto has been reported to cause blood clots in certain patients. As a result, the manufacturers of this medications is facing a slew of product liability lawsuits, some of which have already gone to trial. If you have taken Xarelto and experienced any one of these side effects, you should promptly contact a Xarelto lawsuit lawyer to discuss your case.
**WE are no longer reviewing Xarelto medication lawsuits against the Xarelto manufacturer.***
Xarelto lawsuits
Anticoagulants have been around for quite some time. Coumadin is one of the more well-known drugs in this class, and it has been used since the 1950s. Xarelto is one of the later additions to the class of anticoagulant medications. It was approved by the FDA for use in 2011.
Update- 10-26-2020- “RARITAN, N.J., Oct. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ –The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced today it has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new indication to expand the use of XARELTO® (rivaroxaban) in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). If approved, this new indication for the XARELTO® vascular dose (2.5 mg twice daily plus aspirin 75-100 mg once daily) would include reducing the risk of major thrombotic vascular events such as heart attack, stroke and amputation in patients after recent lower-extremity revascularization, a common procedure in which blood flow is restored to the legs and feet due to symptomatic PAD. The application is based on data from the VOYAGER PAD study, which showed XARELTO® (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin (100 mg once daily) was superior to aspirin alone in reducing the risk of major cardiovascular (CV) and limb events, with similar rates of Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) major bleeding.” PR Newswire
10-19-2020- “SAN ANTONIO – The South Texas Allergy & Asthma Medical Professionals (STAAMP) research center is offering thousands of patients the brand name anticoagulant drug Xarelto for free to those with a positive COVID-19 test, mild to moderate symptoms and an underlying risk factor for the virus.” KSAT
Xarelto lawsuit update 2019- 775 million dollar settlement
Here is a Xarelto lawsuit update: “Johnson & Johnson and Bayer said on Monday that they had agreed to pay $775 million to settle about 25,000 lawsuits involving the blood thinner Xarelto, which they jointly sell. The settlement, which will be split evenly between the two companies, resolves state and federal cases in which patients sued the companies for failing to warn about potentially fatal bleeding episodes when patients took the drug. Neither company admitted liability, and each noted that the companies had prevailed in the six lawsuits that went to trial.” NY Times“In March 2019, Johnson & Johnson and Bayer announced a $775 million settlement resolving 25,000 outstanding Xarelto lawsuits against the two companies.” Consumer safety
What is Xarelto?
Xarelto medication is manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The drug was developed in partnership with the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer. The medication is taken orally, as opposed to introducing it into the bloodstream. Xarelto works as a blood thinner. It is intended to prevent blood from clotting. While this type of medication is referred to as a blood thinner, it does not actually act to thin out your blood. Instead, Xarelto will attack the proteins in your blood that can cause blood to clot. These proteins are called factors and are produced in the liver. Vitamin K will stimulate the production of these factors, and Xarelto tries to fill the same role that Vitamin K would ordinarily fill. If Xarelto acts properly, the Vitamin K is not able to stimulate the production of the factors that can cause blood clots.
Xarelto is one of the top-selling drugs in the country. According to Statista, Xarelto sales top $6.5 billion annually. It is one of the top-10 selling drugs in the world. It is important to note that Xarelto is a powerful drug that is stronger than usual anti-platelet drugs. Xarelto is intended for people who are already at a high risk for clotting. Therefore, it follows that the strength of the drug can lead to side effects in those that take it.
Do I qualify for a Xarelto lawsuit?
- The victim has a valid lawful prescription after January 2012 and has endured one or more Xarelto complications/ Xarelto side effects such as: Internal Bleeding, Stroke or fatality as a result of Internal bleeding or stroke.
- The Victim must stay at least one overnight in the hospital.
- An MD or a Physician has informed the victim to cease Xarelto usage
The above constitute what Xarelto lawsuit lawyers believe constitutes a good Xarelto lawsuit. Those victims who do not meet these criteria should still contact a Xarelto lawsuit law firm to see whether the victim can get compensation from a potential Xarelto lawsuit settlement.
Severe Bleeding as a Result of Xarelto medication
Specifically, Xarelto has been alleged to cause uncontrolled bleeding in some patients. There have been several studies that have shown a higher instance of bleeding in these patients. These studies even pre-dated the FDA’s decision to approve the medication. The FDA’s approval came notwithstanding evidence that was available at the time of approval that there was a higher incidence of adverse events associated with Xarelto. Even in the approval process, the FDA questioned the fact that the manufacturer had instructed patients to use Xarelto once per day. According to the FDA, a twice per day dosage would remove some of the inconsistencies associated with the medication’s results. Nevertheless, one of the manufacturer’s main selling points of Xarelto was that it only needed to be taken once per day.
What makes Xarelto potentially dangerous is that once sever bleeding starts, it is difficult to impossible to stop. There is no antidote or treatment to reverse the internal bleeding once it begins. According to one of the complaints filed in these cases, there were 1800 serious adverse events reported in the first year after Xarelto received FDA approval, including 65 deaths potentially tied to the medication.
Lawsuits Against the Manufacturers
Janssen and Bayer have been hit with thousands of lawsuits as a result of the serious adverse events experienced by patients using Xarelto. According to Forbes Magazine, by the end of 2017, there were close to 18,000 cases pending in various federal courts. There is a large multi-district litigation that is occurring in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Xarelto lawsuit lawyers
The Xerelto lawsuits have alleged problems with both Xarelto itself as well as the process that the manufacturer used to test the medication and its marketing. Specifically, the lawsuits have alleged that Xarelto is dangerous since it can cause massive bleeding. Despite the facts that the manufacturer allegedly knew about the risks associated with the medication, it failed to warn both patients and doctors about the dangers. The Xarelto lawsuits claim that the manufacturer continued to aggressively market Xarelto as a once-daily medication even though it knew that the medication and the dosage could cause massive bleeding. Instead of adding a warning to its label, the manufacturers suppressed the information and continued to sell the medication. As the manufacturer of the drug, it was Janssen’s and Bayer’s duty to share the superior knowledge that they had with consumers and to apprise them of all of the risks before they made a decision to take the medication.
Handful of these cases that have gone to trial so far
There have been a handful of these cases that have gone to trial so far. The defendants had won the first several cases that had reached a decision. In December 2017, Janssen and Bayer lost their first trial in a Philadelphia court. The verdict against the defendants was $28 million, but it was immediately appealed. The judge in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas struck down the verdict the month after it was handed down against Janssen and Bayer. Although the verdict was reversed, the judge affirmed that there was misconduct on the part of the manufacturers. The reversal is currently on appeal and there are more upcoming trials related to Xarelto that will soon be occurring in Philadelphia courts. Visit xarelto.com
Xarelto lawyer
If you or a loved one has taken Xarelto medication and experienced a severe adverse event, you should immediately locate a xarelto lawsuit attorney or a xarelto lawyer to have a conversation about your legal options. This xarelto lawsuit lawyer can give you an assessment of your case and inform you about your chances of achieving a recovery for your injuries as well as educate you about the legal process.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/258022/top-10-pharmaceutical-products-by-global-sales-2011/
