The pharmaceutical companies behind the anticoagulant drug Xarelto are facing a lawsuit from a grieving widow who claims that her husband died as a result of using the blood thinner.

Plaintiff Barbara W. of Florida charges that Janssen Research & Development, Bayer Corp. and others, acted negligently in “fervently” marketing Xarelto “with no regard to the accuracy and misrepresentations of their misleading advertisement.”

The lawsuit also cites reports implicating the anticoagulant Xarelto linked to death and hundreds of cases of serious or fatal injuries.

Her late husband Rufus W. is one of the alleged victims where use of Xarelto linked to death.

Rufus reportedly used Xarelto to treat his non-valvular atrial fibrillation and reduce his risk of stroke and systemic embolism from March 2013 to February 2015.

According to Barbara’s lawsuit, Rufus experienced a lower gastrointestinal bleed which led to his death on February 9, 2015.

The lawsuit, filed in the larger Xarelto multidistrict litigation, seeks compensatory and punitive damages for fraud, wrongful death, failure to warn and unreasonable marketing of a dangerous drug.

“As a result of Defendants’ intense marketing, ‘[a]bout 130,000 U.S. prescriptions were written for Xarelto in the first three months of 2012,’ resulting in large profits,” the complaint states.

“Due to the defective nature of Xarelto, persons who were prescribed and ingested Xarelto, for even a brief period of time, including the Ingesting Decedent herein, were at increased risk for developing life-threatening bleeds.”

Barbara’s claim also cites figures from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a nonprofit devoted to medication error prevention and safe medication use.

“[ISMP] identified 356 reports of serious disabling, or fatal injury in which rivaroxaban was the primary suspect drug. The report more than doubled from the previous quarter total of 128 cases,” the complaint states. Rivaroxaban is the generic name of Xarelto.

How is Xarelto Linked to Death?

Xarelto was heavily promoted as an effective alternative to warfarin to reduce the risk of life-threatening blood clots. However, its potential side effects include bleeds to the brain and internal bleeding.

Although all blood thinners have the potential to cause internal bleeding, Xarelto has the additional danger of having no antidote.

Once a patient begins to bleed uncontrollably, there is little that can be done to stabilize his or her condition. This bleeding can lead to serious health risks, including internal bleeding from Xarelto linked to death.

Xarelto Lawsuits

Xarelto is the target of over 10,500 federal and state lawsuits that charge, among other things, that the blood-thinning drug Xarelto linked to death from gastrointestinal and other internal bleeding.

Plaintiffs involved in these lawsuits have suffered various harmful side effects, including:

• Gastrointestinal bleeding
• Intracranial hemorrhage
• Hemorrhagic and other severe internal bleeding
• Stroke
• Death

Victims of uncontrollable bleeding caused by this dangerous drug are encouraged to contact a qualified personal injury attorney to discuss their case. Victims or their loved ones may be entitled to financial compensation for death or injury caused by Xarelto.

The Xarelto Linked to Death Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-00470-EEF-MBN and is filed within the larger Xarelto MDL In Re: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.