The number of lawsuits alleging injuries associated with ingestion of Xarelto continues to grow in the United States.

Many of the pending lawsuits are centralized in federal court before the Honorable Eldon E. Fallon, in the Eastern District of Louisiana, as part of MDL 2592 with Xarelto bellwether trials scheduled for this year.

Updates on Xarelto Bellwether Trials

As previously reported, Judge Fallon has entered a series of Case Management Orders that continue to maximize the efficient management of the litigation.

On November 20, 2015, Case Management Order #3 set forth the general criteria for selecting the 40 discovery pool plaintiffs for the selected Xarelto bellwether trials. These plaintiffs are jointly selected by the plaintiffs and defendants’ attorneys, for purposes of trial preparation.

On December 17, 2015, Case Management Order #4, which provided more which provided more detailed instruction on the selection of the 40 discovery pool plaintiffs for the Xarelto bellwether trials. The Order provides for the

• Selection of discovery pool plaintiffs
• Eligibility criteria of discovery pool plaintiffs
• Categories of discovery pool plaintiffs

In October 2016, 10 cases were selected for Xarelto bellwether trials. And more recently, on January 30, 2017, Case Management Order (No. 2D) reset four of the initial Xarelto bellwether trials for the following dates and locations:

• April 24, 2017 – Eastern District of Louisiana
• May 30, 2017 – Eastern District of Louisiana
• To be set in June 2017 – Southern District of Mississippi
• To be set in July 2017 – Northern District of Texas

Xarelto Basics

Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is a blood thinner that was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in July 2011 to prevent strokes in patients who received hip and knee replacements. In November 2011, the approval was expanded to any patients with atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat).

Xarelto has been widely prescribed, with millions of people taking the medication since it entered the market.

In fact, about 130,000 prescriptions were written in the first three months of 2012. Yet, the plaintiffs in the Xarelto litigation allege that the defendants failed to warn that in clinical trials, patients taking Xarelto had more internal bleeding events and needed more transfusions than those taking warfarin, Xarelto’s predecessor.

Filing a Xarelto Lawsuit

Plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against the makers of Xarelto also note that the defendants failed to adequately warn about the lack of an antidote to reverse uncontrolled bleeding caused by Xarelto. They indicated there was a risk for bleeding, but sidestepped the issue of reversing that bleeding should it occur.

Patients taking warfarin can reverse uncontrolled bleeding with vitamin K injections. There is no such antidote for Xarelto bleeding, making it potentially more dangerous and even deadly. Even recent March 2014 label changes failed to incorporate a black box warning regarding this risk.

If you feel you have experienced any adverse side effects from taking Xarelto, you can contact an experienced Xarelto attorney for a free, no obligation case evaluation.