A Nevada woman says she suffered a life-threatening bleeding injury because of what she says is Xarelto failure.

Plaintiff Sherry R. alleges she suffered personal injuries and economic losses because of defects in the defendant’s anticoagulant drug Xarelto.

Because the makers of Xarelto failed to properly warn about its side effects, she claims she has suffered life-threatening bleeding and other permanent injuries, physical pain and mental anguish, medical expenses, and loss of earnings.

Named defendants in this Xarelto failure lawsuit include Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, and their associated business entities, all of whom Sherry says had a hand in the development, marketing or sale of Xarelto.

Xarelto is an anticoagulant drug that first earned FDA approval in 2010. It’s now frequently prescribed to help reduce the risk of stroke that patients with atrial fibrillation have to live with.

It’s also used to treat deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and to prevent those conditions from recurring.

According to Sherry’s Xarelto failure lawsuit, the defendants marketed Xarelto as an alternative to the older anticoagulant warfarin.

Before Xarelto came along, warfarin (also sold under the brand name Coumadin) had been the anticoagulant of choice for several decades.

Plaintiff: Xarelto Failure Puts Patients at Risk for Bleeding

Sherry says the defendants marketed Xarelto as having certain advantages over warfarin. Xarelto does not require the same regular blood tests and dosage adjustments, for example, and patients don’t have to restrict their diets the way they do with warfarin.

But in their Xarelto marketing, the defendants allegedly understated the drawbacks associated with Xarelto, Sherry says.

For example, in their direct-to-consumer advertisements, the defendants overstated the drug’s efficacy for preventing stroke and systemic embolism, she claims.

Xarelto advertising failed to mention the risk of bleeding that was revealed in some of the clinical trials used to get Xarelto approved by the FDA, Sherry says.

Results from the ROCKET AF study, the RECORD studies and the EINSTEIN studies all showed that some patients suffered gastrointestinal bleeds and bleeding that required transfusion after taking Xarelto.

Sherry also claims the defendants neglected to mention that Xarelto has no antidote that can reverse its anticoagulant effect.

Unlike with warfarin, which can be counteracted by administering vitamin K, patients who suffer bleeding emergencies while taking Xarelto don’t have the option of counteracting Xarelto pharmaceutically.

The result of that irreversibility is that Xarelto patients are at risk for “permanently disabling, life-threatening and fatal consequences,” Sherry says.

Sherry further claims that defendants failed to disclose to patients, doctors and the FDA the results of certain clinical studies and aftermarket reports that like life-threatening bleeding injuries to Xarelto failure.

She faults the defendants for failing to conduct proper testing and studies to fully evaluate the risk of bleeding associated with Xarelto. The defendants acted with intent to defraud the public and the healthcare community, according to Sherry.

Sherry’s Xarelto lawsuit raises ninety separate claims, some specific to individual defendants. She is asking the court for an award of damages, costs, attorneys’ fees, and any other relief the court deems appropriate.

The Xarelto Lawsuit is Case No. 2016-L-577 in the Circuit Court for the Twentieth Judicial Circuit for the State of Illinois.