A Florida woman filed a Xarelto lawsuit against Jansen Pharmaceuticals and Bayer Pharmaceuticals, for allegedly causing her to suffer from internal bleeding.

Plaintiff Donna M. claims in her Xarelto lawsuit that as a direct result of using the defendants’ anticoagulant, Xarelto, she developed sudden internal bleeding injuries and had to hospitalized.

Xarelto is one of three new-generation anticoagulant medications, with the others being Pradaxa and Eliquis. Each of these drugs were released and advertised to be in direct competition to each other, and their common predecessor, Warfarin.

Soon after its release in 2011, Xarelto dominated the anticoagulant market and has been prescribed to millions of patients suffering from atrial fibrillation and were at high risk for stroke occurrence.

Donna was one of these patients, and was prescribed to her by her physician after reviewing the defendants’ advertisements. Xarelto was advertised to be overtly superior to Warfarin and other new-generation anticoagulants, promising to be a safe and effective treatment against stroke.

This was proven wrong when Donna suddenly suffered uncontrollable internal bleeding injuries, and had to be immediately hospitalized. Luckily, the plaintiff survived and lived to file legal action against Bayer and Jansen Pharmaceuticals, for product liability charges.

Unfortunately, the complications Donna suffered are not uncommonly reported in the medical community, as hundreds of Xarelto bleeding reports have submitted since its release. While all anticoagulants come with the risk of internal bleeding, only Warfarin comes with an approved stopping agent.

For patients using new-generation anticoagulants, emergency medical intervention is needed to prevent the patient’s internal bleeding injuries from becoming fatal. Xarelto bleeding injuries reported include: rectal bleeding, hemorrhaging, and abdominal bleeding.

Overview of Xarelto Bleeding Complications

It is important to note that its predecessor, Pradaxa, has been facing allegations of causing the same injuries in patients. When Pradaxa was released in 2010, it had been the first anticoagulant released into the market since Warfarin.

After its manufacturing company, Boehringer Ingelheim, had reached financial success with Pradaxa, it spurred American pharmaceutical companies to try their hand in the highly exclusive, but lucrative market. This spurred the creation and release of Xarelto, which now garners billions of dollars for Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Jansen Pharmaceuticals.

While legal experts are hoping that the Pradaxa litigation is starting to settle down, lawyers predict that the legal drama surrounding Xarelto is just starting. Donna and many other patients allege that Jansen and Bayer had deliberately concealed vital safety information regarding their product in order to protect the drug’s market value.

Furthermore, medical experts criticize the defendants and other manufacturers of new-generation anticoagulants of not requiring the same dose adjustment requirement as Warfarin, where patients would have to have their physicians evaluate their condition and adjust their Warfarin dose accordingly.

Not only did Xarelto not require dose adjustments, it has no stopping agent in the event of unexpected bleeding events. Additionally, Donna states that there were no warnings or indications of Xarelto bleeding complications on the drug’s label, with the defendants providing no relevant studies.

The plaintiff’s lawyers state that the defendants had the civil responsibility of warning their client and other Xarelto patients of these complications, because they rely on the given information. Donna insists that she never would have used Xarelto, if she knew about the risk of internal bleeding.

So for being allegedly responsible for manufacturing, selling, distributing, and marketing a dangerous drug, Donna is suing Bayer and Jansen Pharmaceuticals. The charges include: negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

This Xarelto Lawsuit is filed In Re: Xarelto Products Liability, MDL No. 2592, in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Louisiana.