The lawsuits are adding up for the makers of Xarelto.

A Xarelto bleeding lawsuit was filed in December by husband and wife plaintiffs Nova R. and William R. According to their Xarelto lawsuit, Nova took the drug and then suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, a type of internal bleeding which could have been the result of taking Xarelto.

According to her Xarelto bleeding lawsuit, doctors were forced to resort to blood transfusions to restore her ability to form blood clots and stop the bleeding. While Nova survived her gastrointestinal bleeding, some Xarelto lawsuits have been filed by next of kin of patients who died after alleged Xarelto bleeding.

This Xarelto lawsuit holds that the makers of Xarelto were aware — or reasonably should have been aware — of the risks associated with the drug. The lawsuit further alleges that not only were Xarelto’s manufacturers aware of the risk of Xarelto bleeding like gastrointestinal bleeding, but that they aggressively promoted it as superior to older anticoagulants, even though older anticoagulants have reversal agents.

So many Xarelto lawsuits are expected to be filed that the legal system has resorted to forming a Xarelto multidistrict litigation, or MDL. MDLs are a process the legal system uses to coordinate similar cases.

Since Xarelto lawsuits tend to make similar allegations and hinge on similar evidence, they are well-suited for a Xarelto MDL. MDLs help coordinate testimony and evidence to avoid duplication of efforts across various Xarelto lawsuits, streamlining the legal process and saving time and money for those involved.

Xarelto belongs to a class of drugs called blood thinners or anticoagulants. These drugs are designed to decrease the risk of medical problems caused by blood clots forming within the body.

While blood clots can be a natural part of the healing process during injury, errant blood clots within the body can block the blood supply to critical organs and tissues, causing stroke, certain types of heart attack, and other blood clot related problems. However, all anticoagulants carry risks, and Xarelto bleeding lawsuits allege this particular anticoagulant may carry more risks than most.

All anticoagulants, including Xarelto, carry the risk of uncontrolled bleeding, including internal bleeding like gastrointestinal bleeding and pulmonary bleeding. This happens when the anticoagulant works too well, and the patient cannot form blood clots.

When this happens, a Xarelto patient might not be able to stop bleeding from very minor internal injuries that would normally go unnoticed. Older anticoagulants, like Warfarin, can be “turned off” with a second drug called a reversal agent.

When a patient on Warfarin experiences uncontrolled bleeding, a large dose of vitamin K can allow the patient to form clots. Xarelto has no known reversal agent.

Additionally, the makers of Xarelto have advertised the drug as superior to Warfarin, in that Xarelto does not require regular blood testing to ensure its not over- or under-performing its job.

However, research studies have suggested that Xarelto patients may benefit from the same kind of blood testing in order to ensure that they are at a higher risk of blood clots or Xarelto bleeding incidents.

The Xarelto Bleeding Lawsuit MDL is In Re: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.