As the Xarelto litigation continues, Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Janssen Pharmaceuticals are facing a growing number of Xarelto lawsuits that allege bleeding injuries. These Xarelto lawsuits claim that the manufacturing companies failed to protect plaintiffs against the risks of their product, and they suffered devastating bleeding injuries as a result.

According to the latest Xarelto case list that was recently released by the court, there are now 434 Xarelto bleeding claims pending before U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon, with the number growing each month. Xarelto (Rivaroxoban) was approved for the American market by the FDA in 2011, to be a competitor to Pradaxa and a superior alternative to Warfarin. For generations, Warfarin had been the only drug available to treat conditions such as atrial fibrillation and clot-prevention for patients; it took a huge hit in the marketplace upon the release of Pradaxa in 2010.

After the release and success of Pradaxa, other pharmaceutical companies wanted to try their luck in the exclusive anticoagulant market. This led Bayer and Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, to collaborate and release Xarelto.

Not long after its release, Xarelto climbed to the top of the anticoagulant market and continues to be a popular choice amongst patients. However, it was not long after the release that Xarelto was discovered to have severe complications that were allegedly not adequately addressed on the drug’s medication label. Numerous patients reported severe internal bleeding events that required emergency intervention because there is no established reversal agent.

Overview of Xarelto Bleeding Allegations

Xarelto had been advertised to work faster and more efficiently than Warfarin. It was also marketed as being more convenient than Warfarin as it did not require patients to undergo frequent dose adjustments and doctor appointments. However, Warfarin is currently the only anticoagulant available that has an established reversal agent in the case of bleeding injuries.

In one of the most recent Xarelto lawsuits, a woman named Mary G. took legal action on behalf of her late husband, Israel G., who allegedly died from gastrointestinal bleeding caused by Xarelto in May 2013. According to Mary’s lawsuit, her husband switched to Xarelto from Warfarin after reviewing the defendants’ claims of better efficiency and its convenient one-dose prescription.

Mary goes on in her Xarelto lawsuit to state that her husband had no prior history of internal bleeding events or stroke, but had begun feeling severe dizziness caused by the gastrointestinal bleeding. Her husband was hospitalized for several months before ultimately succumbing to the internal damage; medical records show that he had suffered respiratory failure and acute anemia. The decedent’s physician states that he never would have prescribed Israel the medication if the manufacturing companies had adequately explained the risks of internal bleeding.

Mary’s Xarelto lawsuit is one of many filed by those who lost a loved one due to the unexpected bleeding side effects of Xarelto, and will most certainly not be the last.

Earlier in December 2014, the U.S. District Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) established consolidated pretrial proceedings for all Xarelto lawsuits that were filed in the federal court system, centralized in the U.S. District of Eastern Louisiana. By consolidating all of these lawsuits into a multidistrict litigation (MDL), the litigation process will ultimately become more convenient to both parties, save legal resources, and will avoid conflicting rulings from different judges. This was a necessary stage in the legal process, as legal experts ultimately expect that these Xarelto bleeding lawsuits will number in the thousands.

As part of the pretrial proceedings, Judge Fallon is expected to select several lawsuits through a case-specific discovery process, each of which will be prepared for early trial dates to represent their fellow Xarelto lawsuits. According to the minutes released from the recent status conference held before Judge Fallon, the parties are expected to propose a new case management order by the end of June 2015, which will narrow down the selection of bellwether claims.

While the outcomes of these bellwether trials will not effect other Xarelto claims, they may influence a possible Xarelto settlement as negotiations may soon start to resolve the litigation. The next status conference for the Xarelto litigation movement is scheduled for June 10, 2015.