Many patients across the country take the popular blood thinner Pradaxa (dabigatran) to treat a blood clotting and related conditions. Despite the widespread usage of this drug, patients face a number of adverse side effects of Pradaxa.

Some allege that they were not given adequate warning about certain extreme adverse side effects of Pradaxa, including bleeding problems, some of which may prove fatal. If you or someone you love has suffered from adverse side effects of Pradaxa like gastrointestinal bleeding, you may be able to pursue litigation.

More and more patients are filing lawsuits against the Pradaxa’s manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, claiming that the pharmaceutical giant failed to give patients and the medical community adequate warning about the risk of these adverse side effects of Pradaxa. These lawsuits claim that Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals either knew or should have known about the dangers linked with Pradaxa, but ultimately failed in their responsibility to warn consumers about such risks.

Background of Pradaxa

Pradaxa (also known by its generic name, dabigatran) is one of the more widely used blood thinner options currently available on the market. The anticoagulant is manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.

Pradaxa is relatively new; indeed, it was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in 2010. Pradaxa was promoted as a superior option to Coumadin (warfarin), which had remained the long-standing staple anticoagulant for decades.

Adverse Side Effects of Pradaxa

After less than two years on the market, 3.7 million U.S. patients had already chosen to start using Pradaxa. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for patients to start reporting major adverse side effects of Pradaxa.

In the first three months since the drug’s approval, the FDA had received 307 reports of adverse side effects of Pradaxa, including internal bleeding. Within just one year, these reports included 260 instances of deaths allegedly caused by Pradaxa complications, including bleeding, hemorrhage, and stroke.

Of course, any anticoagulant (blood-thinner) can cause excessive bruising and bleeding. The body usually combats bleeding problems by forming a clot to slow the bleeding down. However, if a patient is taking Pradaxa or a similar blood thinner, these life-saving blood clots cannot effectively form. If a warfarin user suffered emergency bleeding problems and needed to form blood clots, doctors could use a warfarin antidote to reverse the drug’s effects, allowing blood clots to form. However, until recently, Pradaxa had no such antidote.

Some Pradaxa users have suffered from serious adverse side effects of Pradaxa, including heart attacks, liver failure, uncontrollable bleeding, and even death. The most common of these complications is excessive bleeding, which in turn can lead to brain hemorrhaging or death. Over 500 Pradaxa bleeding events in 2011 reportedly led to fatalities.

Filing a Lawsuit Over Adverse Side Effects of Pradaxa

If you or someone you know has taken Pradaxa and has subsequently experienced any of the above symptoms, such as excessive bleeding or brain hemorrhaging, due to Pradaxa, you may have cause for filing a Pradaxa lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by adverse side effects of Pradaxa, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden incurred by medical expenses and lost wages.