A man’s family has brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the makers of Xarelto. The family’s Xarelto bleeding lawsuit alleges the man’s death was a direct result of his use of Xarelto.

The lawsuit was filed by the family of the deceased Cornelius Goodwin III, by his wife, his three sons and his daughter. Their Xarelto bleeding lawsuit alleges that Goodwin died as a result of taking Xarelto after Goodwin had an artificial hip joint implanted.

To reduce the risk of clot-related complications, Goodwin’s physicians prescribed  him Xarelto. However, before the end of the month, the Xarelto lawsuit says that Goodwin suffered from uncontrollable Xarelto bleeding, which allegedly caused his death in August 2013 after several weeks of medical care.

Xarelto is an anticoagulant, or blood thinner. Anticoagulants interfere with blood clotting. While blood clots are a part of the normal healing process after an injury, when blood clots form in the body they can cause catastrophic medical problems like stroke, pulmonary embolism, and certain types of heart attack. However, all anticoagulants carry the risk of working too well, and prevent the body from stopping life-threatening bleeds from minor external or internal injuries.

Older anticoagulants like Warfarin have reversal agents, or antidotes, which can “turn off” anticoagulants if a patient experiences uncontrolled bleeding. However, Xarelto has no such antidote, but as a newer drug is on patent, while older drugs like Warfarin have a smaller profit margin. This Xarelto lawsuit alleges that the makers of the drug ignored concerns about potentially-lethal Xarelto side effects.

Xarelto bleeding lawsuits hold that in spite of the risks unique to newer anticoagulants like Warfarin, the drug’s makers have continued to aggressively market the drug. In fact, in 2013 alone, the company spent more than $11 million in marketing for Xarelto. And this has paid off for the drug’s makers. By 2013, more than a million Xarelto prescriptions had been written. The same year, Xarelto broke $1 billion in sales, considered the “blockbuster” benchmark in the pharmaceuticals industry.

The Xarelto lawsuit seeks a number of types of compensation over Goodwin’s death. They include wrongful death benefits, as well as compensation for medical expenses that piled up as Goodwin spent the last weeks of his life in intensive care. The Xarelto bleeding lawsuit also seeks punitive damages. Some types of civil action may seek punitive damages, which are damages designed to punish offenders and discourage further misconduct.

The Xarelto Bleeding Lawsuit is Estate of Cornelius McClain Goodwin III, et al. v. Janssen Research and Development LLC., et al., Case No. 2:14-cv-01877-CJB-JCW, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.