A panel of federal judges will consider a motion asking to centralize 21 product liability lawsuits filed against Bayer and Johnson & Johnson that contain similar allegations concerning the drug Xarelto. The number of Xarelto lawsuits is expected to rise.

If approved for multidistrict Litigation, the cases would be heard before a single judge to effectively reduce duplicative discovery and make the litigation more convenient for the various witnesses and parties involved on both sides.

The hearing is set for Dec. 4 in Charleston, S.C. The plaintiffs are requesting that all Xarelto lawsuits be consolidated to a federal judge in the Southern District of Illinois.

The Xarelto lawsuits allege severe internal bleeding and/or wrongful death caused by the relatively new blood thinner, which received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2011. In the wrongful death cases, family members say Xarelto (rivaroxaban) resulted in fatal bleeds.

Xarelto is an anticoagulant (blood thinner) manufactured and marketed by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutical and Bayer that has been widely prescribed to prevent blood clots in patients suffering from atrial fibrillation (arrhythmia of the heart), deep vein thrombosis (blood clots deep within the body), pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lungs), stroke, and patients who have recently undergone a knee or hip replacement surgery.

Many doctors prescribe it instead of Warfarin (coumadin), a blood thinner that has been used in the United States for 50 years. Severe internal bleeding and death are the most commonly reported Xarelto side effects, but others include thrombosis (blood clots), decreased hemoglobin (a substance that carries oxygen in red blood cells), cerebrovascular accidents (an event that leads to a cerebral hemorrhage), hematoma (a semisolid mass in the blood), peripheral edema (swelling of the lower limbs), and dyspnea (difficulty breathing).

Johnson & Johnson and Bayer have marketed Xarelto as a superior blood thinner alternative to Coumadin for anticoagulant therapy.

There is no known cure to reverse the type of internal bleeding caused by Xarelto.

In July 1, 2011, the FDA approved rivaroxaban for prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which can lead to pulmonary embolism (PE), in adults undergoing hip and knee replacement surgery. Four months later, the agency approved its use for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Xarelto is in the same class of drugs as Pradaxa, an anticoagulant that is the target of more than 4,000 lawsuits where plaintiffs allege bleeding complications. Pradaxa manufacturers recently agreed to a $650 million settlement for Pradaxa victims.

The Xarelto lawsuits accuse the manufacturers of failing to provide adequate warnings about the risk of severe bleeding and the lack of an approved reversal agent.