A large number of atrial fibrillation patients take anticoagulants like Xarelto to prevent ischemic stroke. Still, as a few case reports show, it’s possible to take Xarelto according to the label’s instructions and doctor’s guidance and still suffer an ischemic stroke.

Xarelto, also known by its generic name rivaroxaban, is an anticoagulant medication with a few different FDA-approved uses. It can treat and help prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

It’s also very commonly used in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation to help prevent blood clot-related problems like a stroke. It’s estimated that about 2.2 million people in the United States suffer from atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation patients are at particular risk for ischemic stroke due to their tendency to develop blood clots within the circulatory system. These patients suffer from an irregular heartbeat that may allow blood to pool inside the heart. When that happens, the stagnant blood may form a clot that could travel to the brain and obstruct its blood supply, causing an ischemic stroke.

Anticoagulants like Xarelto are used to prevent those clots from forming by inhibiting the blood’s ability to clot. Yet reports from some Xarelto users show it’s still possible to suffer a stroke while taking Xarelto.

Two Cases of Xarelto Ischemic Stroke

In one case study, an 88-year-old woman went to the hospital after two episodes of having a facial droop and being unable to speak, episodes diagnosed as transient ischemic attacks. Her doctors treated her but did not discontinue her Xarelto then.

She returned to the hospital weeks later after experiencing a 17 pound weight loss. After 12 days of hospitalization, and just before she was to be discharged, she started having slurred speech and weakness in her left arm and leg.

Despite having continually taken Xarelto, she was suffering from an acute ischemic stroke. She was transferred to a specialized vascular institute for treatment of her stroke. Once she was finally stabilized, her doctors discontinued Xarelto and put her on an alternative anticoagulant.

Litigation Over Xarelto

Another patient from Florida filed a Xarelto lawsuit over his own ischemic stroke, claiming the drug failed to prevent it. He takes particular issue with the drug’s once-daily dosing schedule, which he says is inadequate to prevent stroke.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Xarelto, promotes that once-daily schedule as an advantage that Xarelto has over other medications. But the plaintiff says that even though Xarelto was supposed to give him 24-hours of protection from a single 20 milligram dose, the drug still failed to prevent his stroke.

This Xarelto lawsuit is just one of a reported 3,400 similar claims filed in the United States. Besides claiming instances of ischemic stroke, plaintiffs in these claims are alleging Xarelto’s anticoagulant effect led to severe bleeding injuries that doctors may not have been able to control.

The litigation has been consolidated into two main groups. Claims within the federal court system have been grouped into a multidistrict litigation hosted by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, overseen by U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon. In the Pennsylvania state court system, more than 620 Xarelto lawsuits are being processed through a mass tort program in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.