A woman has filed a Xarelto death lawsuit against Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and their related companies, alleging that their blood thinner medication was responsible for her mother’s fatal injury.

According to the Xarelto death lawsuit, Janice W., deceased mother of Chelsea W., was prescribed Xarelto in October 2015 and took it until December 2015.

Then, “as a direct and proximate result of the use of Defendants’ Xarelto, [Janice] experienced a lower gastrointestinal bleed ultimately leading to her death on or about 01/07/2016, as well as severe pain and suffering,” the Xarelto lawsuit states.

The claim states that Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is prescribed “to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, to treat deep vein thrombosis (hereinafter referred to as ‘DVT’) and pulmonary embolism (hereinafter referred to as ‘PE’), to reduce the risk of recurrence of DVT and/or PE, and for prophylaxis of DVT for patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgery.”

Daughter’s Xarelto Death Lawsuit Claims Warnings Weren’t Adequate

Chelsea contends that the drug makers “negligently and/or fraudulently” represented to the FDA and to the medical and healthcare community “that Xarelto had been tested and found to be safe and/or effective for its indicated use.”

The lawsuit further states that the manufacturers purposely concealed the defects of Xarelto from the FDA, the medical community and the public in general, displaying “a callous, reckless, willful, depraved indifference to health, safety and welfare of [Janice] herein.”

In addition to the claim that Xarelto caused her mother’s death, Chelsea also alleges that Xarelto caused her mother to suffer severe and dangerous side effects including “life-threatening bleeding, as well as other severe and personal injuries which are permanent and lasting in nature, physical pain and mental anguish, including diminished enjoyment of life.”

Unlike other oral anticoagulant medications such as warfarin, patients taking Xarelto do not have access to emergency medication to serve as a reversal agent or antidote to the blood thinner. With warfarin, fresh frozen plasma and intravenous vitamin K could reverse the effects of the drug and promote the body’s natural clotting mechanisms.

The Xarelto death lawsuit alleges that the drug manufacturers “also failed to warn emergency room doctors, surgeons, and other critical care medical professionals that unlike generally-known measures taken to treat and stabilize bleeding in users of warfarin, there is no effective agent to reverse the anticoagulation effects of Xarelto, and therefore no effective means to treat and stabilize patients who experience uncontrolled bleeding while taking Xarelto.”

Chelsea has brought forth a number of allegations against the drug manufacturers including negligence, strict products liability, breach of express and implied warranties, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and deceit, violation of consumer protection laws and wrongful death.

Chelsea is demanding a jury trial and is seeking compensatory damages, economic damages, punitive and/or exemplary damages, pre-and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs and any additional relief deemed just and proper by the Court.

The Xarelto Death Lawsuit is Case No. 2:16-cv-14705 and is part of the Xarelto MDL  In re: Xarelto (rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No, 2592, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.