Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb are facing a new Eliquis life-threatening bleeding lawsuit from an Alabama man claiming serious injuries. The claimant alleges that he suffered life threatening bleeding complications as a result of taking the defendants’ new generation anticoagulant.

The Eliquis life-threatening bleeding lawsuit is being filed by plaintiff Larry W., who had been prescribed Eliquis for typical treatment purposes.

Eliquis is popularly prescribed for stroke prevention in persons with atrial fibrillation, and it has been used to treat thousands of patients since its approval in 2012. Larry was one of these patients, hoping that Eliquis would prevent stroke and other blood clot attacks.

Eliquis is a new generation anticoagulant that was approved by the FDA in 2012, joining other new blood thinners Xarelto and Pradaxa. These new generation anticoagulants were released to compete with the much older blood thinner warfarin. Before the release of Pradaxa in 2010, there had not been a medication released for blood thinning purposes since warfarin was released in the 1950s.

Designed for once-daily dosing, new generation anticoagulants were marketed as more efficient and convenient than warfain. Warfarin patients are also subject to frequent dose adjustments by doctors.

But warfarin has a readily available reversal agent in the case of uncontrollable internal bleeding. Eliquis and most of the other new generation anticoagulants do not have any such antidote available to patients.

Overview of Life-Threatening Bleeding Lawsuit

According to his Eliquis life-threatening bleeding lawsuit, Larry was prescribed the medication from June 2014 to April 2015. During all times relevant, Larry only used Eliquis for approved treatment purposes and did not deviate from prescription instructions.

Even with this diligence, Larry had reportedly experienced life-threatening bleeding complications on April 3, 2015. Larry was taken off the medication soon after, but has to contend with the physical and medical damages of his injuries.

Larry decided to file this Eliquis life-threatening bleeding lawsuit after discovering that there was no widely available bleeding antidote. The defendants allegedly did not adequately represent that fact on the drug’s label.

Larry says that at no point before or after his Eliquis prescription was he warned against potentially fatal internal bleeding events, nor did the companies notify him or his physician. Larry insisted that he never would have taken Eliquis if he had known the potential internal bleeding risks.

Larry is filing this Eliquis life-threatening bleeding lawsuit seeking damages for claims of negligence and failure to warn.

This Eliquis Life-Threatening Bleeding Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-02236-VEC, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.