An Indiana man is the latest to join the growing Xarelto multidistrict litigation (MDL) centralized in Louisiana.

Plaintiff David L. added his Xarelto bleeding lawsuit to the Xarelto MDL, which is addressing the numerous complaints filed by plaintiffs alleging they experienced serious health complications after taking the blood thinner.

Some of the most common allegations include internal bleeding such as gastrointestinal bleeding and pulmonary bleeding.

Xarelto Internal Bleeding Complications

Xarelto was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2011 to be used as a blood clot treatment after hip or knee replacement surgery or for patients with atrial fibrillation.

Within just a few short years, the widely prescribed new anticoagulant quickly gained in popularity. Xarelto manufacturers tout claims that its the #1 blood thinner in its class with 11 million prescriptions in the United States alone.

Originally, Xarelto was marketed to consumers as a more convenient blood thinner when compared to the traditional anticoagulant Warfarin (coumadin). Unlike Coumadin users, Xarelto patients do not require monthly blood tests or have any dietary restrictions.

However, within only months of being on the market, the FDA began receiving reports of Xarelto bleeding complications. Since that time, Xarelto has been named in thousands of adverse event reports, hundreds of which claimed the medication resulted in a hemorrhage-related death.

Bleeding risks may occur with any blood thinner, however most consumers claim they were not aware that there was no antidote for excessive Xarelto bleeding.

With Coumadin, patients who experience a bleeding incident can be given a dose of vitamin K to get it under control. Unlike Xarelto patients, who have no known reversal agent and must endure multiple blood transfusions as the only way to stop Xarelto internal bleeding is to remove the medication from the blood system. 

Xarelto Study

Xarelto was recently compared with Warfarin in a study published in the British Medical Journal. Researchers followed more than 45,000 patients taking a blood thinner to try to determine, which posed a greater risk of internal bleeding.

The study determined that Xarelto patients carry twice the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding when compared to those taking Warfarin. 

While Xarelto is indicated to double the risks of gastrointestinal bleeding, it has also been reported to have other serious side effects including: brain hemorrhaging, bruising, abnormal liver function, low blood pressure, rectal bleeding, reduced platelet levels, rapid heartbeat, nose bleeds, dizziness and hemorrhaging in the eyes.

Xarelto Bleeding Lawsuits

The Xarelto multidistrict litigation names manufacturers Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals as the defendants responsible for manufacturing the anticoagulant.

Xarelto manufacturers face several hundred bleeding lawsuits and are expected to reach more than 1,000 claims before the MDL trial begins.

In general, Xarelto lawsuits claim that plaintiffs were not adequately warned that should an internal bleeding event occur, there would be no antidote to stop it. Often times, plaintiffs allege that had they been informed of the serious bleeding risks involved, they would have not taken Xarelto.

The Xarelto MDL is In re: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation,  Case No. 2:15-cv-03002-EEF-MBN in MDL No. 2592, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.