Janssen Research & Development LLC faces a couple’s recent blood thinner Xarelto lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana joining a growing multidistrict litigation (MDL) filed against the company.

Plaintiffs Gerald and Joanne C. file the blood thinner Xarelto lawsuit demanding jury trial.

According to the blood thinner Xarelto lawsuit, the Florida couple files the complaint due to significant injuries the husband suffered following ingestion of the anticoagulant medication. Both plaintiffs state that because of Gerald’s use of Xarelto, Joanne also suffered loss.

The blood thinner Xarelto lawsuit states that Gerald began using Xarelto on or about 2013. However, he experienced severe bleeding while on Xarelto on June 27, 2014 and was hospitalized due to subarachnoid hemorrhage, a kind of internal bleeding inside his head.

According to the blood thinner Xarelto lawsuit, Gerald “suffered life-threatening bleeding and was caused to sustain severe personal injuries, pain, suffering, and emotional distress as a direct result of his ingestion of Xarelto.”

He also adds that he “would not have used Xarelto had Defendants properly disclosed the risks associated with its use, as safer alternatives were available.”

The blood thinner Xarelto lawsuit was filed on multiple counts including strict liability, manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn, negligence, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, punitive damages, negligent misrepresentation, loss of consortium, and violation of Florida consumer protection laws.

Overview: Blood Thinner Xarelto Lawsuit

Gerald and Joanne’s claim is filed as part of a large MDL centered on allegations that Xarelto’s manufacturers misrepresented the Xarelto’s safety and failed to add sufficient warnings of Xarelto’s uncontrolled bleeding side effects.

Plaintiffs also challenge the manufacturers’ delay in making available a Xarelto reversal agent to help stop uncontrollable internal bleeding when it arises. Xarelto’s reversal agent, Andexxa (andexanet alfa) was only recently approved to help reverse internal bleeding side effects when they come about. In the years prior to that approval, patients who suffered from bleeding side effects did not have a reversal agent available to help stop this complication when it occurs.

Plaintiffs argue that the lack of a reversal agent constituted a design defect, especially in comparison to other anticoagulant medication that did have a reversal agent. For example, warfarin, is able to stop internal bleeding side effects through the administration of vitamin K.

Xarelto became approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2011. It is mainly prescribed to prevent conditions such as pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and blood clots.

A DVT is the formation of a blood clot in the body’s lower extremities, while a PE occurs when one or more arteries in the lungs becomes blocked by a blood clot. DVT symptoms include pain, tenderness, and swelling. PE symptoms, conversely, includes coughing, shortness of breath, and chest pain.

Dangerous bleeding side effects and complications, however, have become linked to Xarelto. These may include:

• Retinal hemorrhages
• Abdominal hemorrhages
• Intracranial hemorrhages
• Adrenal bleeding
• Excessive blood loss
• Epidural hematoma
• Stroke
• Wound infection and complication
• Death

The Blood Thinner Xarelto Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-06281-EEF-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The Xarelto MDL is In re: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.