Nine surviving children from Louisiana have filed a Pradaxa bleeding lawsuit against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals for the alleged wrongful death of their father.

The children claim that as a direct result of using the defendant’s blood-thinner Pradaxa, their father developed uncontrollable internal bleeding injuries which ultimately led to his death.

Lead plaintiff Louis O., filed the Pradaxa lawsuit on behalf of himself and his eight siblings, after learning that their father’s death could have been avoided.

Similar to two million patients in the United States, the decedent Anthony O. suffered from atrial fibrillation and was at high risk for stroke. He was prescribed Pradaxa to combat this, and had been using the drug according to the drug’s prescription instructions and physician advice.

At no point in time was the decedent, his children, or his physician informed that Pradaxa and other new-generation anticoagulants carried a high risk for uncontrollable internal bleeding injuries.  According to the family’s lawyers, their father’s diligence did nothing to stop the fatal Pradaxa bleeding event in September 2014, which ultimately ended Anthony’s life.

Louis and his siblings insists that their father never would have taken Pradaxa had he known the risks, and that Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals withheld this vital safety information to insure the product’s market value.  The plaintiffs’ lawyers state that the drug maker had the civil responsibility of inuring the decedent’s well-being, because he was relying on the accuracy of the Pradaxa warning label.

So for being allegedly responsible for manufacturing, selling, distributing, and marketing a dangerous drug, Louis and his siblings are suing Boehringer Ingelheim. The charges include: negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

Overview of Pradaxa Bleeding Complications

While the case of Louis and his siblings is a devastating one, it is very similar to so many other Pradaxa lawsuits alleging internal bleeding injuries, or deaths. In fact, the FDA’s records indicate that thousands of Pradaxa bleeding incidents occurred in the past, including 542 fatal occurrences.

Additionally in 2011, the Institute of Safe Medication Practices found that Pradaxa was associated with more deaths and injuries that any of the other 800 drugs the institute reviewed. These concerns eventually forced Boehringer Ingelheim to update the Pradaxa label to indicate bleeding injuries in January 2012, which came too late for many patients and their families.

Pradaxa is a member of the new-generation anticoagulants, a group of medications created to directly compete with Warfarin. America’s original anticoagulant had required patients to regularly see their physicians for dose adjustments and had a stopping agent in the case of internal bleeding.

While the new-generation anticoagulants like Pradaxa have the convenience of being prescribed in a single dose, there is no bleeding antidote. Many Pradaxa lawsuits state that if Pradaxa and other new anticoagulants had been given the same requirements as Warfarin, then many fatal bleeding events or serious complications would have been avoided.