A new Xarelto uncontrollable bleeding lawsuit was filed against the Janssen Pharmaceuticals, alleging that drug caused a wrongful death.

The Xarelto lawsuit was filed by Ruth McGowan on behalf of herself and her father, Thomas C. Dunkley. Dunkley was prescribed Xarelto, a blood thinner, during a knee injury. Some surgeries can make a person likely to develop dangerous blood clots in the leg. These blood clots can break away, and lodge in the tissues of the heart, lungs or brain, causing heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms, or strokes respectively. Drugs like Xarelto can reduce the risk of blood clots, but also carry the risk of uncontrolled bleeding.

In this Xarelto lawsuit, is alleged that the drug Xarelto caused Dunkley to suffer from an uncontrollable bleeding incident, which caused him to suffer a painful death. All anticoagulants carry the risk of causing an uncontrolled bleeding event. When this happens, the anticoagulants in question work too well, and a person looses the ability to form blood clots, and a person can bleed to death from a very minor injuries, including internal injuries.

This Xarelto uncontrollable bleeding lawsuit claims that older anticoagulants are safer than newer drugs like Pradaxa and Xarelto. Part of the reasoning is that older drugs like Warfarin require regular blood work to determine if the drug is having the right effect on the patient. Newer anticoagulants like Xarelto and Pradaxa are promoted as not requiring this, despite the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received thousands of reports of serious bleeding.

Additionally, older anticoagulants like Warfarin have known reversal agents. This means that if a person suffers from a serious bleeding incident on Warfarin, a high dose of vitamin K can effectively shut down the drug’s effects, preventing further bleeding. Both Xarelto and Pradaxa have no known reversal agents, though pharmaceutical companies are desperately seeking to discover potential reversal agents.

This Xarelto uncontrollable bleeding lawsuit, as well as hundreds of similar cases, allege that the makers of Xarelto knew — or should have known — of the potential for serious uncontrolled bleeding incidents. The Xarelto lawsuit further alleges that in spite of this knowledge, Janssen continued to aggressively promote it over older, safer anticoagulants that were off-patent and thus had less of a profit margin.

To support this allegation, the lawsuit states Xarelto did once make a billion dollars in one year, achieving pharmacological blockbuster status in spite of thousands of reports of life-threatening Xarelto complications.

The Xarelto Uncontrollable Bleeding Lawsuit is Ruth E. McGowan, et al., v. Janssen Research & Development LLC, Case No. 2:14-cv-159, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont.