A Chicago man is bringing a claim against Janssen Pharmaceuticals and related companies, alleging the anticoagulant Xarelto was responsible for his father’s death.

Plaintiff John M. is suing on his own behalf and on behalf of the estate of his late father. According to the Xarelto lawsuit, John’s father started taking the anticoagulant in October 2013.

About one month later, the Xarelto lawsuit says, his father suffered from massive hemoptysis, causing him “pain and suffering, financial loss . . . and permanent injury.”

Xarelto, known generically as rivaroxaban, is one of a new generation of anticoagulant medications introduced in the past few years. These anticoagulants were the first such drugs in decades to offer a viable alternative to warfarin (also known as Coumadin).

John says Janssen Pharmaceuticals and other named defendants promoted Xarelto as having certain advantages over warfarin, advantages collectively referred to as the “Xarelto Difference.”

John says that in their promotional materials for Xarelto, the defendants represented that Xarelto does not require periodic blood monitoring or dietary restrictions, unlike warfarin. The defendants also promoted Xarelto’s once-a-day dosing schedule as being more convenient, John says.

However, John cites a few sources that question those claims. A report by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices from 2012 noted that FDA reviewers questioned the once-a-day dosing schedule, noting evidence that it caused peaks and dips in blood levels of medication that could have been avoided by using twice-daily dosing.

Xarelto Bleeding

John also cites clinical trials for Xarelto that reported more frequent gastrointestinal bleeding and bleeding that required transfusion in trial subjects who took Xarelto.

This Xarelto lawsuit also states that there is no antidote to Xarelto – that is, no complimentary drug that can reverse its anticoagulant effects in the event of excessive bleeding. With warfarin, excessive bleeding can be controlled by administering vitamin K. However, vitamin K does not have the same effect on Xarelto bleeding.

John says that because the defendants failed to properly disclose the risks of Xarelto bleeding, it was impossible for his father’s doctor to properly counsel him about those risks.

John says that his father never would have used Xarelto if he had been fully informed of the risks, and neither would his doctor have prescribed Xarelto if he had full knowledge of the risks of Xarelto bleeding.

John’s Xarelto lawsuit names as defendants Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Bayer Pharmaceuticals Inc., and several of their related companies, all of whom are allegedly involved in the manufacture or distribution of Xarelto.

John states claims based on theories of manufacturing defects, design defects, failure to warn, negligence, breach of warranty, fraud, and misrepresentation.

John is also raising claims for wrongful death and survival, two types of claims that the survivors of a deceased person can bring when the death was allegedly caused by a defendant’s actions.

Wrongful death seeks compensation for the survivor for his own losses caused by the death, while survival seeks compensation for the losses incurred by the deceased person’s estate.

The Xarelto Lawsuit is Case No. 2:15-cv-06148, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.