Under U.S. law, the courts may group together related Xarelto lawsuits to help streamline the legal process. However, the makers of Xarelto have opposed a recent motion to centralize the various Xarelto bleeding lawsuits.

Xarelto is a drug designed to decrease the risk of blood clot-related problems like stroke, pulmonary embolism, and some kinds of heart attacks. Xarelto is a type of drug called an anticoagulant, a drug that interferes with a patient’s ability to form blood clots, as these clots can block the blood supply to critical tissues like the brain, heart, and lungs. However, all anticoagulants carry the risk of working too well, and causing uncontrolled bleeding, like the alleged instances of Xarelto bleeding.

All anticoagulants carry the risk of uncontrolled bleeding events. When this happens, the body’s decreased ability to form blood clots can allow a patient to experience life-threatening bleeding like alleged cases of Xarelto bleeding. When this happens, even a minor injury, including internal injuries, can lead to death. This can include gastrointestinal bleeding and pulmonary bleeding. Xarelto lawsuits have alleged that Xarelto bleeding is particularly dangerous because it has no antidote.

In the United States, similar cases can be grouped together in a process called multidistrict litigation or MDL. MDLs help streamline the legal process by combining similar lawsuits, like various Xarelto bleeding lawsuits, into a single coordinated legal action. The makers of Xarelto have attempted to block efforts to combine Xarelto lawsuits into a single MDL.

At present, there are at least 30 different Xarelto lawsuits filed across 14 different federal court districts. These Xarelto lawsuits allege that the makers of Xarelto were aware of the risks associated Xarelto—or reasonably should have been aware. The Xarelto lawsuits further allege that in spite of this, the drug’s makers oversold Xarelto by claiming the drug does not require regular blood testing like older anticoagulants, in spite of studies which suggest that blood testing can reduce the risks associated with the drug including Xarelto bleeding incidents.

The makers of Xarelto argued that the various Xarelto lawsuits are the product of aggressive marketing campaigns by lawyers seeking to create a Xarelto MDL. Plaintiffs in Xarelto lawsuits have countered that their lawsuits are focused on inappropriate marketing of Xarelto. The Xarelto lawsuits considered for the MDLs typically seek to recoup medical costs allegedly linked to Xarelto bleeding and other Xarelto side effects.