A Georgia resident recently filed a lawsuit against Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, over Xarelto problems including internal bleeding in the brain.

Plaintiff Orenn F. began taking Xarelto in August 2013, as prescribed by his physician as a blood thinner for atrial fibrillation.

The Xarelto lawsuit alleges that approximately six months after using the blood thinner drug, Orenn developed a life-threatening intracranial bleed (internal bleeding in the brain) that required emergency medical intervention in January 2014.

According to the Xarelto lawsuit, Janssen failed to adequately warn consumers of the safety risks associated with its blood thinning medication. Instead, Janssen represented its drug as safe and effective to consumers, the FDA, and the medical community as a whole, actively concealing knowledge of Xarelto problems.

Orenn claims that had he been properly informed of this Xarelto side effect and other potential dangers, he would not have taken Xarelto and would have avoided its dangerous consequences.  He has filed this Xarelto bleeding lawsuit on multiple counts, including failure to warn, defective design, negligence, and fraud and deceit, among several others.

Xarelto Problems

Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is a popular anticoagulant medication often used to treat atrial fibrillation, as was the case for this Orenn F. Janssen, the developer, manufacturer, and marketer of Xarelto, claims that the new generation blood thinner has been prescribed to over seven million people across the world, helping prevent dangerous blood clots.

However, according to many of these Xarelto lawsuits, Janssen deliberately underplayed the drug’s safety and efficacy. Rather than being superior to warfarin (an anticoagulant staple drug), many plaintiffs claim the blood thinner is allegedly no safer to use, and like warfarin, should require routine blood monitoring to be safe.

Not all side effects of Xarelto are severe or dangerous, and not all users of Xarelto experience side effects. Those who do, however, can be subject to extremely severe and dangerous bleeding issues that cannot be controlled or reversed, given that there is no antidote to counteract Xarelto’s effects.

This Xarelto bleeding lawsuit and others like it allege that a series of clinical trials well known in the medical community has revealed a link between Xarelto and major bleeding events, such as gastrointestinal bleeding. The studies indicated that Xarelto had an even higher rate of major bleeding complications than other, similar drugs, including generic warfarin.

“Major bleeding” indicates that the bleeding involved a critical organ, led to reoperation, or led to fatalities.

Xarelto bleeding lawsuits claim that Janssen was not only aware of these studies and the bleeding risks of the drug, but failed to report these major bleeding complications as significant adverse effects. On top of this, the lawsuits allege that Janssen failed to adequately warn consumers and the medical community about dangerous Xarelto problems.

Despite the manufacturer’s alleged knowledge of these risks, the company continued to market Xarelto in a manner the lawsuit describes as negligent and misleading, diminishing the concern for the serious risks of the drug.

Xarelto Bleeding Lawsuits

Xarelto is currently facing hundreds of Xarelto bleeding lawsuits filed for patients who, after taking Xarelto, have experienced gastrointestinal bleeding, hemorrhaging, or another reported Xarelto side effect.

Plaintiffs claim that the drug manufacturers did not clearly portray the drug’s potentially damaging side effects on their packaging, in their advertising, or to the medical community as a whole.

If you or someone you know has experienced a life-threatening Xarelto side effect such as intracranial or gastrointestinal bleeding, you may be entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering.

The Xarelto Bleeding Lawsuit is Case No. 2:16-cv-00241, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.