Pradaxa Lawsuit Trials Pushed Back to September 2014

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The first trial dates for lawsuits concerning Pradaxa bleeding injuries have been pushed back to September 2014. More than 2,000 Pradaxa lawsuits are pending against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmceuticals Inc. over claims the drug causes uncontrollable internal bleeding.

The four bellwether Pradaxa lawsuits were scheduled to begin in August 2014 and February 2015 but have been pushed back 30 days by the judge overseeing the Pradaxa mass tort. Jury selections for the first bellwether Pradaxa trial will now begin on Sept. 8, with opening statements expected to begin on Sept. 15. The first case involves a wrongful death claim filed by plaintiff Suzanne Mackiewicz, who alleges her father’s death was caused by uncontrollable Pradaxa bleeding.

The remaining three Pradaxa trials are scheduled for Dec. 1; Feb. 17, 2015;  and March 23, 2015. In total, two of the cases involve wrongful death claims while the other plaintiffs survived their Pradaxa injuries.

Pradaxa Concerns

Pradaxa is a anticoagulant or blood thinner. Blood thinners are a class of drugs that make it harder for blood to clot. Since blood clots can cause medical emergencies such as a stroke, pulmonary embolism, and some types of heart attacks, blood thinners can treat and help prevent these problems. However, by depleting the body’s ability to form clots, the risk of blood thinners is uncontrolled bleeding. When this happens, a patient can die from a usually minor injury, since they cannot stop bleeding.

It has been alleged in Pradaxa lawsuits that Boehringer Ingelheim has downplayed the risks associated with their drugs. For example, the Pradaxa drug maker has stated that their drug does not require regular blood testing, as older-generation anticoagulants do. However, some research has suggested that regular blood testing could make Pradaxa safer and more effective by giving doctors an idea of how strongly the patient is responding to the drug.  Additionally, older anticoagulants have reversal agents available. Reversal agents are drugs that can “turn off” a specific anticoagulant in the event of uncontrolled bleeding. Pradaxa has no known control agent.

Pradaxa Class Action Lawsuit v. Mass Tort

The Pradaxa lawsuits against Boehringer Ingelheim have been consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) or a Mass Tort. Mass Torts are a type of group lawsuit, similar to a Pradaxa class action lawsuit. In both the Pradaxa Mass Tort and a Pradaxa class action lawsuit, a group of people allege that they have suffered similar harm at the hands of the same defendant. The main difference is that a Pradaxa class action lawsuit if filed on behalf of multiple plaintiffs, while a Mass Tort is the centralization of dozens, sometimes hundreds, of individual personal injury lawsuits.

Both Mass Torts and class action lawsuits are designed to save the time and money of everyone involved, by streamlining multiple individual suits into a single legal action. Mass Torts are more common for drug lawsuits than class action lawsuits, since individuals harmed by drugs tend to have varying injuries, and more likely to file individual lawsuits before a class action lawsuit can be established.

Within a Mass Tort, the individual cases do retain a degree of autonomy. One important group of cases within the Mass Tort is the bellwether cases. Bellwether cases are sort of “pilot” or test cases intended to test out critical issues related to the rest of the cases. Bellwether cases are typically chosen by both the plaintiffs and the defendant. These cases typically decide how key issues will be treated and ruled in the rest of the cases in the MDL. The first of these bellwether trials in the Pradaxa MDL are scheduled for September 2014, and will consist of four cases which will determine key issues of the litigation.

The Pradaxa Mass Tort is In Re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2385, filed in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois.

Get a Free Pradaxa Injury Compensation Review

If you or a loved one suffered from serious complications after using Pradaxa, you’ve almost certainly been through a trying ordeal. Uncontrollable bleeding is a medical emergency, and comes on suddenly. This type of medical emergency can take an enormous emotional and financial toll on individuals.

But you need to remember that regardless of the challenges you are facing, you still have rights, and there are important steps that you can take to regain a measure of control over your situation. You can start by obtaining a free evaluation to see if you qualify to pursue compensation for your or your loved one’s injuries. Submit your information now:

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