Major pharmaceutical companies Bayer Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson are seeking to have an amended master complaint, which includes hundreds of Xarelto lawsuits, barred.

Bayer and Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, argued that allowing the newly amended complaint while trials regarding the drug’s bleeding risk are ongoing would lead to prejudice their defense to Xarelto lawsuits.

“Plaintiffs should be required to complete this bellwether stage of the litigation under their existing pleadings,” the companies argued. “To allow otherwise, on the very eve of trial, would inject significant prejudice into the administration of these cases.”

The Pennsylvania mass tort program of nearly 1,700 Xarelto lawsuits was created in January 2015 as a consolidation tool. The master complaint alleges that Bayer and Janssen failed to give adequate warning to consumers about the risk of major bleeding complications linked with the drug, or even to note the necessity of consistent blood monitoring.

Plaintiffs asked the Philadelphia judge to allow them to file another amended complaint—the third so far—to hone down their pleadings. While they would not be adding any new claims, they hoped to “reorganize the allegations and provide more details about the actions and inactions that form the bases of already-existing causes of action.”

The new complaint would be a total of 150 pages, while the previous version had been 114. Bayer and Janssen argued that the additional 36 pages was too significant an expansion, and asked that the new amended complaint be barred.

A group of bellwether trials for the Xarelto lawsuits is set to begin next month.

Basics of Xarelto

Xarelto (also known by its generic name, rivaroxaban) is a popular blood thinner medication first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 1, 2011. Xarelto is one of a group of new blood-thinning drugs, which also includes Pradaxa and Eliquis. Xarelto is manufactured and distributed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a prominent subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and is used to prevent blood clots and the problems caused by blood clotting, including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Xarelto Bleeding Complications

Although Xarelto and other anticoagulants are used to prevent blood clotting, there are some instances in which clotting actually becomes a life-saving body function. When the body bleeds, its natural defense mechanism is to clot the blood to slow the bleeding. But if a person is unable to form these blood clots because they are on a blood thinner, this can increase the risk of permanent Xarelto bleeding injuries or, in extreme cases, even death.

Filing Xarelto Lawsuits

If you or someone you love has experienced a severe Xarelto bleeding injury or even death caused by Xarelto, you may be able to join the growing pile of Xarelto lawsuits. Filing a Xarelto lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by Xarelto side effects, and cannot bring a loved one back to life, but it can at least help to alleviate the financial burden often incurred by medical expenses and lost wages.