Johnson & Johnson faces a newly filed Xarelto gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuit filed by a woman alleging she suffered a GI bleed as a direct result of taking the anticoagulant medication.

The Xarelto gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuit joins a growing multidistrict litigation (MDL) being filed against the company in Louisiana federal court. The lawsuit was filed on June 21, 2018.

Plaintiff Yvonne M. a resident of Winnebago County, Ill., files the Xarelto gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuit demanding a jury trial. She states that she had taken Xarelto between August 2016 and September 2016. Xarelto was prescribed to her to reduce her risks of developing stroke and systemic embolism.

However, Yvonne says that she “suffered various injuries, serious physical pain and suffering, medical, hospital and surgical expenses as a direct result of her use of Xarelto,” the Xarelto gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuit states.

Yvonne says that she also “incurred and will incur; serious injury pain, suffering, loss of income, loss of opportunity, loss of family and social relationships, and medical, hospital and surgical expenses and other expense related to the diagnosis and treatment thereof …”

The Xarelto gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuit was filed on multiple counts including strict liability, manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn, negligence, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and violation of consumer protection laws and consumer fraud laws.

Overview: Xarelto Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Thousands of Xarelto gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuits have been filed against Xarelto’s manufacturers over severe adverse side effects linked to the medication. Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is one of the more recent anticoagulant medications to become approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2011.

Side effects reported by Xarelto patients have included severe bleeding, hematoma, and stroke. Currently, there are nearly 20,000 lawsuits filed against both Johnson and Johnson and Bayer.

Yvonne’s claim is filed as part of a large multidistrict litigation (MDL) centered on allegations that Xarelto causes patients to suffer serious internal bleeding injuries, including other serious complications. Side effects associated with Xarelto include gastrointestinal bleeding, uncontrollable internal bleeding, hemorrhaging, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and ischemic stroke.

Consumers who have filed lawsuits have suffered from extreme bleeding and other serious complications. Side effects include:

• Retinal hemorrhages
• Abdominal hemorrhages
• Intracranial hemorrhages
• Adrenal bleeding
• Excessive blood loss
• Epidural hematoma
• Stroke
• Wound infection and complication
• Death

Although Xarelto’s reversal agent Andexxa (andexanet alfa) was only recently approved, many plaintiffs say they suffered bleeding episodes in the years before the reversal agent became available. Plaintiffs point out that warfarin, another anticoagulant medication that has been on the market for decades, provides patients a reversal agent through the administration of vitamin K.

The Xarelto Gastrointestinal Bleeding Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-06132-EEF-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The Xarelto MDL is in re: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.