Many patients who take a blood thinning medication like Pradaxa are not aware that there can be life-threatening side effects. As a result, many affected patients have filed Pradaxa lawsuits against the drug manufacturer to recover damages.

Pradaxa is generically known as dabigatran. It belongs to a class of anticoagulant drugs called Direct Thrombin Inhibitors. It is manufactured by the drug company Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.

Pradaxa, when it was approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration in 2010, was touted as being superior to the standard blood thinner of the time, Coumadin. Coumadin is generically known as warfarin.

Warfarin is a successful drug, but it often requires a diet change by the patient and more intense blood monitoring. Pradaxa was marketed as not requiring those particular things and was, therefore, better for the patient.

However, Pradaxa and other similar new anticoagulants may present some serious risks of life-threatening side effects. As is the nature of any anticoagulant blood thinning medication, it is possible that the blood would not clot when it needs to.

If a person on any blood thinning medication has an emergency or an accident, their lives may be at further risk because they could experience an uncontrollable bleeding event. Uncontrollable bleeding events can cause harm and even death. Many patients who have experienced this have filed Pradaxa lawsuits against the drug manufacturer.

If a patient on warfarin experienced a life threating bleeding event, Vitamin K could be administered to reverse the bleeding. However, because direct thrombin inhibitors have a different method of action than warfarin, Vitamin K does not reverse the bleeding in those patients.

For several years while on the market, Pradaxa did not have a reversal agent available. It was not until 2015 that Praxbind, the reversal agent for Pradaxa was approved by the FDA.

Many patients who took Pradaxa between 2010 and 2015 experienced life-threatening bleeding events. Some of these bleeding events ended in illness, hospitalization or even death. Families who attribute a family member’s death to Pradaxa use have filed wrongful death Pradaxa lawsuits against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. Others have filed products liability Pradaxa lawsuits.

Even though a warning was issued by the FDA in 2011 warning users about the dangers that may be associated with Pradaxa, many patients were still affected adversely by the drug because of internal bleeding events.

Filing Pradaxa Lawsuits

Those who have been affected adversely by taking Pradaxa as an anticoagulant may be candidates for filing Pradaxa lawsuits against the drug manufacturer. Requests can be made in Pradaxa lawsuits for financial damages, reimbursement of medical costs,  and financial help because of time away from work because of injury to themselves or taking care of a loved one who was injured by taking Pradaxa.

Additionally, contacting an attorney can help people decide if they are good candidates for filing Pradaxa lawsuits. While filing Pradaxa lawsuits cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by Pradaxa injuries, it can help offset the costs of medical expenses or lost wages.