Pradaxa, an anticoagulant, has been the subject of numerous lawsuits in recent years as patients continue to experience adverse uncontrollable bleeding events.

Pradaxa is manufactured by pharmaceutical giant, Boehringer Ingelheim. The draw of Pradaxa is that, unlike other anticoagulants on the market, there is no need to closely monitor the patient and his or her diet.

Pradaxa directly competes with warfarin (Coumadin) which, for years, has been the go-to anticoagulant of choice for physicians and patients alike.

But with any anticoagulant, uncontrollable internal bleeding is always a concern. Warfarin, however, has an antidote for uncontrollable bleeding. Physicians administer Vitamin K as a reversal agent for warfarin users who experience internal bleeding.

Until recently, Pradaxa has not had an antidote to reverse internal bleeding. In fall of 2015, an antidote, Praxbind, was approved for Pradaxa users.

Unfortunately, many patients experienced uncontrollable bleeding events before the Pradaxa antidote was approved. Many of these individuals have filed lawsuits against Pradaxa and its manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.

Pradaxa Lawsuits

Most lawsuits claim that Boehringer Ingelheim did not provide adequate warnings regarding the risks of Pradaxa use and that they did not provide an antidote for uncontrollable bleeding events.

In May of 2014, Boehringer Ingelheim announced that for $650 million it would settle over 4,000 pending Pradaxa lawsuits, paying an average of $150,000 per case. These cases were part of an MDL in the Southern District of Illinois.

However, shortly after this, the pharmaceutical company is facing a new round of lawsuits from patients who’d suffered damages as a result of Pradaxa, but this time it is in the state courts.

During the MDL, the attorneys serving on the plaintiff’s steering committee became aware of several other claimants waiting to file Pradaxa bleeding lawsuits but had no interest in joining the MDL.

Judge David Herndon ruled that the new, post-settlement claimants would not be entitled to the discovery received by plaintiffs’ counsel in the MDL.

There are many cases and many stories of individuals who’ve suffered at the hands of Boehringer Ingelheim.

Last fall, an Alabama couple filled a Pradaxa lawsuit claiming that she needed three red blood cell transfusions and was forced to undergo an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (a diagnostic procedure) and a colonoscopy as a result of Pradaxa use.

Another plaintiff in a different Pradaxa case, Mildred B. of New Jersey, alleges that she took the Pradaxa starting in March of 2011 and used it for more than a year without problems.

However, in June of 2014, she suffered uncontrollable bleeding and required emergency medical care. Mildred was close to death, but survived.

Nine siblings filed a Pradaxa lawsuit against the manufacturer claiming that their father’s death was a direct result of Pradaxa use. They claim that their father’s doctor nor their deceased father was aware that Pradaxa did not have an antidote that could be used in the event of internal bleeding.

The lawsuit claims that the company, “willfully, wantonly and with malice withheld the knowledge of increased risk of irreversible bleeds in users of Pradaxa to prevent any chances of their product’s registrations being delayed or rejected by the FDA.”

 Filing a Pradaxa Lawsuit

If you or a loved one has been injured by Pradaxa you may be compensated for your injuries, medical treatment and pain and suffering due to Pradaxa side effects.

Pradaxa attorneys are also available to families who lost a loved one allegedly due to a Pradaxa side effect. If your loved one died while taking Pradaxa you may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Boehringer Ingelheim.