Amanda Antell  |  March 30, 2015

Category: Legal News

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heart surgery California plaintiff Mary B. is suing the drug companies Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals for the injuries she allegedly incurred from Xarelto (rivaroxaban), a drug she was prescribed after heart surgery to avoid blood clots. Mary claims that as a direct result of using the defendants’ product, she suffered life-threatening internal bleeding injuries that could only be stopped through emergency intervention.

The Xarelto lawsuit states that after undergoing cardiac ablation surgery, the plaintiff was prescribed Xarelto on Nov. 14, 2012, to prevent possible blood clotting during recovery. Xarelto is typically prescribed to patients with atrial fibrillation who are at high risk for stroke, but is also approved to prevent clotting in certain surgical recovery situations.

Despite the defendants’ Xarelto advertisements promising quick and efficient progress, the plaintiff allegedly experienced dangerous complications soon after starting the drug. After only five days of using Xarelto, Mary’s right kidney started bleeding and she developed a life-threatening internal bleed. Mary had to be hospitalized for a period of time, and must frequently see her doctor to monitor her recovery progress, according to the Xarelto lawsuit.

Mary is filing legal action against Bayer and Janssen for allegedly failing to warn her about the side effects of Xarelto. Xarelto’s label contained no warnings or indications that bleeding incidents were possible, nor did it warn that there was no reversal agent to stop such a bleeding incident, the Xarelto lawsuit claims. Mary alleges that at no point in time did the defendants warn her of this complication, or provide her or her physician with any relevant studies.

The Xarelto bleeding lawsuit states that Bayer and Janssen had the civil responsibility to warn the plaintiff and other Xarelto patients of possible bleeding complications because the public and medical community rely on labels to provide adequate and accurate information. Mary insists that she never would have used Xarelto if she had known about the possibility of irreversible bleeding injuries.

Mary is suing Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals for being allegedly responsible for manufacturing, selling, distributing and marketing a dangerous drug. The charges include negligence, false advertising, concealing information and misrepresenting a product.

This Xarelto lawsuit is Mary B. v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals & Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Case No. 2:15-cv-00187-EEF-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division.

Overview of Xarelto Bleeding Complications

Xarelto is a part of the new generation of blood thinners that manufacturers produced as alternatives to warfarin. When the FDA approved Xarelto on Nov. 4, 2011, Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals released the drug in a joint effort to compete against warfarin and the first new-generation blood thinner, Pradaxa.

Like its predecessors, Xarelto was approved to treat patients with atrial fibrillation and to prevent stroke in high-risk patients. Upon Xarelto’s release, the manufacturing companies met with almost instantaneous success. Xarelto beat out Pradaxa’s place at the top of the anticoagulant market within one year of its release.

Xarelto’s place at the top of the market, however, came with large advertising costs. In 2013, Janssen and Bayer reportedly spent at least $11 million purely for Xarelto marketing purposes, making it the most advertised pharmaceutical drug during the third quarter of 2013. The campaign included ads designed to encourage patients to ask their physician about Xarelto. This effort paid off, as Xarelto garnered $582 million in global sales during its first year of release. By the end of 2013, U.S. physicians had written approximately one million Xarelto prescriptions.

Despite its popularity, Xarelto allegedly causes serious side effects, including a particularly deadly one. Numerous patients have reported suffering severe and life-threatening bleeding injuries after using Xarelto, and needing emergency intervention to prevent death.

Thousands of product liability lawsuits state that the manufacturers of Xarelto and the other new-generation blood thinners neglected to mention that the blood thinners lack a stopping agent to control such bleeding events. While the new anticoagulants boast to be faster and more convenient than warfarin, the first-generation anticoagulant warfarin came with a reversal agent and required patients to undergo frequent dose adjustments from their doctors.

Many medical experts believe that Xarelto patients would have been at much less risk if they had been required to have regular doctor visits, and if they had been warned about the lack of reversal agent. This has led to the mass Xarelto litigation movement that Janssen and Bayer are facing today.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The Xarelto attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or Xarelto class action lawsuit is best for you. [In general, Xarelto lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.] Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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