A growing number of blood thinner patients are reporting experiencing Pradaxa bleeding injuries, leading some to file lawsuits against the drug’s manufacturer.

Pradaxa and other blood thinners are used to treat blood clotting and related issues. Unfortunately, in recent years, Pradaxa has become associated with serious Pradaxa bleeding injuries that, for some patients, can have lasting effects. For others, Pradaxa bleeding injuries may even be fatal.

Many patients claim that they were not made adequately aware of the risks of Pradaxa bleeding injuries associated with the blood thinner before they began taking it, and have filed lawsuits against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. The Pradaxa manufacturer has been hit with thousands of lawsuits so far, with more still to come.

Lawsuits filed over Pradaxa bleeding injuries allege that Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals failed to adequately warn the public, as well as the medical community as a whole, about the potentially dangerous or life-threatening Pradaxa bleeding injuries known to be linked with its drug.

Pradaxa lawsuits allege that Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals either knew or should have known about these serious dangers, and had a responsibility to warn consumers to prevent potential Pradaxa bleeding injuries.

Background of Pradaxa

Pradaxa (also known by its generic name, dabigatran) is one of the more popular anticoagulants, or blood thinners, currently available on the market. Pradaxa was manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim and first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010, less than a decade ago. Pradaxa is one of several recent blood thinners approved in recent years as a replacement for the anticoagulant warfarin, which has been the standard for decades.

But after less than two years on the market, sales of Pradaxa had already skyrocketed. Within that period, a whopping 3.7 million U.S. patients had chosen to use Pradaxa. Pradaxa bleeding injuries may threaten millions of people, considering both the popularity and the widespread usage of the drug.

Pradaxa Bleeding Injuries

Any anticoagulant (blood thinner) can cause excessive bruising and bleeding. This can create problems when internal bleeding from an accident or disease gets out of hand. In these cases, the body usually combats bleeding by forming a clot. Unfortunately, if a patient is taking Pradaxa or another blood thinner, these life-saving blood clots cannot effectively form due to the nature of blood thinners themselves.

Excessive bleeding is a common side effect of anticoagulants, and in most cases it does not cause major problems. If a warfarin user suffered emergency bleeding and needed to form blood clots, doctors could use a warfarin antidote to reverse the drug’s effects, allowing blood clots to form. However, there was a significant period of time in which Pradaxa had no such antidote.

Pradaxa does not officially require monitoring, which reportedly puts its users at even greater risk.

Some Pradaxa users have suffered from serious Pradaxa bleeding injuries. The most severe of these side effects include heart attacks, liver failure, uncontrollable bleeding, and even death. Even the most common of these complications, excessive bleeding, can in turn can lead to brain hemorrhaging or in the most extreme cases, death.

Filing a Lawsuit over Pradaxa Bleeding Injuries

If you or someone you know has taken Pradaxa and has subsequently experienced any of the above symptoms, such as excessive bleeding or brain hemorrhaging, due to Pradaxa use, you may have cause for filing a Pradaxa bleeding injuries lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by Pradaxa bleeding injuries, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden incurred by medical expenses and lost wages.