Illinois plaintiff Beverly C. is suing pharmaceutical companies Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary), for allegedly causing her to suffer Xarelto bleeding. Beverly claims that in direct result of using the blood thinner, she experienced a life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding event.

Beverly is one of millions of Americans who are in need of blood thinners due to a certain clotting injury, atrial fibrillation. The plaintiff was prescribed Xarelto on July 11, 2012, to reduce her chances of suffering stroke and prevent other possible clotting complications. During her time on Xarelto, Beverly followed all prescription instructions as well as followed the advice of her physician, the Xarelto lawsuit alleges.

Despite her diligence, Beverly allegedly suffered a serious gastrointestinal bleeding event on May 25, 2013. She had to be admitted into hospital care and had to remain under heavy monitoring until the doctors stabilized the bleeding. Upon learning that she had been prescribed Xarelto, her physicians quickly noted that the anticoagulant most likely contributed to her life-threatening bleeding event, according to the Xarelto lawsuit. It was not long after the bleeding event that Beverly learned that there was no available stopping agent on the market for Xarelto bleeding events, and it was was not mentioned on the drug’s label.

Currently, Beverly must contend with a weakened physical state and be on the lookout for a possible gastrointestinal bleeding recurrence. Beverly states that if she had known about the possibility of Xarelto bleeding, then she never would have agreed to take the drug.

Therefore, she is filing legal action against Janssen and Bayer for failing to protect her from the dangers of their product and for failing to notify her physicians of these risks. Beverly’s lawyers state that the pharmaceutical companies had the civil responsibility of warning her and other Xarelto patients of all possible Xarelto side effects, because they rely on the accuracy of the given information.

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

Xarelto Bleeding Complications

Xarelto was approved by the FDA in 2011 as another treatment option to patients suffering from atrial fibrillation or to patients who had recently undergone knee surgery and were very prone to clotting. Similar in design and use to its predecessor, Pradaxa, Xarelto was released as a joint effort between Bayer and Johnson & Johnson to try their luck in the lucrative anticoagulant market.

This proved to be a successful venture for Bayer and Johnson & Johnson, as Xarelto quickly took the place on the top of the anticoagulant market, earning millions in profit for both companies. Unfortunately, it was not long after Xarelto was released that it was discovered to have the same design flaws as Pradaxa.

Similar to its predecessor, Xarelto patients found that they needed hospital intervention in case they suffered an internal bleeding event. Like Pradaxa, there is currently no stopping agent and Xarelto does not require patients to regularly see their doctors for dose adjustments. While the convenience of a single dose was one of Xarelto’s main selling points, many doctors believe that dosage adjustments would have prevented many bleeding events.

Unfortunately this is not the case, as thousands of injured patients who had previously taken Xarelto are filing legal action against the companies. They accuse the companies of deliberately concealing this vital safety information in order to protect Xarelto’s market value.

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