Missouri widow Dixie S. is suing Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, alleging that the defendants’ product caused the death of her husband. Dixie claims that as a direct result of using Xarelto, her husband developed, and later died from, internal bleeding injuries.

Dixie’s husband, Jay S., was prescribed Xarelto in December 2012 to treat his atrial fibrillation and to ultimately prevent stroke. Initially, Jay responded well to the Xarelto treatment. He followed the advice of his physician and all prescription instructions; unfortunately, not long after he started the blood-thinner, Jay started experiencing complications.

In early May 2013, Jay went to the hospital with bleeding concerns. He was put in the intensive care unit, where he was diagnosed with intracerebral hemorrhage. He was immediately taken off Xarelto. Despite hospital treatment, Jay died in late May from his bleeding injuries allegedly caused by Xarelto.

Dixie is now suing the drug’s manufacturers for the wrongful death of her husband, as well as for causing her personal mental anguish, pain, and suffering connected to her husband’s injuries and subsequent death. In the Xarelto lawsuit, Dixie claims that the anticoagulant caused her husband to suffer a fatal attack; furthermore, she alleges her husband had no prior awareness of the drug’s potential side effects. Dixie insists that her husband never would have taken Xarelto if he had known the risks, and that the drug’s manufacturers failed to provide warnings or relevant drug saefty studies.

Overview of Xarelto Bleeding Complications

Xarelto was approved by the FDA in 2011 as a direct competitor to America’s original anticoagulant, Warfarin, and the first new-generation anticoagulant, Pradaxa. Pradaxa was released a year earlier by German pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim, which opened the way for several major American pharmaceutical companies to develop their own new-generation anticoagulants.

These newer anticoagulants touted speed and convenience, but some consumers and physicians now claim that those benefits came with a steep price. In contrast to Warfarin, new-generation anticoagulants do not have an approved stopping agent. A case of uncontrollable internal bleeding could lead to potential fatalities, such as Jay’s. Additionally, Warfarin patients were often required to see their physicians regularly for dose adjustments; experts believe that if Xarelto and other new-generation anticoagulants had these same requirements, there would significantly less incidents of internal bleeding.

For being allegedly responsible for her husband’s death, and for manufacturing an unreasonably dangerous product, Dixie is suing Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The charges include negligence, wrongful death, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

This Xarelto Lawsuit is Case No. 2:15-cv-01734-EEF-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.