Drug giants Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals have been named as defendants in a recent Xarelto lawsuit, alleging that they purposely concealed important safety information from the medical community, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the public. The Xarelto lawsuit additionally claims the companies did not test their popular blood thinner drug enough before it was put on the market.

This month, an Illinois resident filed a Xarelto lawsuit against the manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) and Bayer Healthcare AG, the co-marketer of Xarelto, alleging these companies failed to warn patients and physicians of the increased risks of irreversible and fatal internal bleeding when using Xarelto.

According to the Xarelto lawsuit, plaintiff Peggy S. began to use Xarelto in June 2014 to prevent deep vein thrombosis after undergoing knee replacement surgery. She subsequently suffered serious and dangerous side effects including gastrointestinal bleeding, for which she was hospitalized in 2015, as well as other severe injuries that were allegedly a direct and proximate result of Bayer and Janssen’s omissions relating to Xarelto.

Peggy claims the drug should not be sold and that Bayer and Janssen continued to sell and promote Xarelto even though they knew their blood thinner could cause life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding.

Xarelto Side Effects

Approved by the FDA in 2011, Xarelto is one of the newest anticoagulants (blood thinners) manufactured and marketed by Janssen and Bayer that has been widely prescribed to prevent or treat several health conditions including: blood clots in patients suffering from atrial fibrillation (arrhythmia of the heart), deep vein thrombosis (blood clots deep within the body), pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lungs), stroke, and patients who have recently undergone a knee or hip replacement surgery.

Xarelto is generally prescribed as an alternative to warfarin (Coumadin), a blood thinner that began to be used in 1954. The most serious potential side effect allgedly caused by Xarelto is severe internal bleeding, including gastrointestinal bleeding, that can result in death. Even more alarming is that there currently is no known cure to reverse Xarelto bleeding.

Other potential Xarelto injuries include thrombosis (blood clots), decreased hemoglobin (a substance that carries oxygen in red blood cells), cerebrovascular accidents (an event that leads to a cerebral hemorrhage), hematoma (a semisolid mass in the blood), peripheral edema (swelling of the lower limbs), and dyspnea (difficulty breathing).

Xarelto Injury Lawsuits

Peggy’s Xarelto injury lawsuit is seeking compensatory, economic, and punitive damages from Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, and Janssen for their alleged deceptive and reckless practices in misrepresenting and omitting numerous facts about dangerous Xarelto side effects. The filed complaint indicates a demand for a jury trial for this case.

The Xarelto Lawsuit is Case No. 3:14-cv-01297-DRH, in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois, East Saint Louis Division.