Plaintiff Morgan M. recently filed a Xarelto bleeding lawsuit on behalf of Dawna M. who allegedly died due to a severe bleeding event caused by the blood-thinning drug. Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, and various subsidiaries are named defendants in the Xarelto bleeding lawsuit.

According to Morgan, Dawna was prescribed Xarelto and took the drug from early December 2017 to late January 2017. In January, Dawna experienced a severe gastrointestinal bleed.

Due to this Xarelto bleeding event, Morgan claims, Dawna died shortly after. The Xarelto bleeding lawsuit claims that severe gastrointestinal bleeds were not warned by the defendants, and that as a result, Dawna was not prepared for the possibility that taking Xarelto could result in her death.

Xarelto is an anticoagulant drug which is commonly prescribed for patients to treat or prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2011 and has been shown to be non-inferior to warfarin, the industry standard blood thinner.

Xarelto competes directly with warfarin and has been marketed as superior due to once a day dosing, lack of dietary restrictions, and minimal blood monitoring. These advantages are allegedly referred to as manufacturers as the “Xarelto Difference”. However, the lawsuit claims that the “Xarelto Difference” was “nothing more than a marketing campaign based on flawed science”.

The Xarelto bleeding lawsuit claims that the anticoagulant drug can result in serious, life-threatening bleeding. A study comparing Xarelto to warfarin allegedly found that “bleeding from gastrointestinal sites, including upper, lower, and rectal sites, occurred more frequently in the [Xarelto] group, as did bleeding that led to a drop in the hemoglobin level or bleeding that required transfusion.”

For the majority of its time on the market, Xarelto has not had a reversal agent like warfarin does, increasing the possibility of uncontrolled Xarelto bleeding. The FDA recently approved a reversal agent for the drug known as Andexxa, but this does not benefit patients who have already experienced injury allegedly caused by Xarelto bleeding.

The Xarelto bleeding lawsuit argues that manufacturers did not sufficiently warn patients and physicians of the potential for life-threatening bleeding events. Morgan claims the manufacturers allegedly knew or should have known of the risks, yet did not sufficiently investigate the risks or warn the public.

“Upon information and belief, Defendants concealed and failed to completely disclose their knowledge that Xarelto was associated with or could cause life-threatening bleeding as well as their knowledge that they had failed to fully test or study said risk,” the Xarelto bleeding lawsuit states.

Morgan, on behalf of Dawna, accuses the defendants of strict liability, manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn, negligence, breach of warranties, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, violation of consumer protection laws, and wrongful death. The Xarelto bleeding lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, economic damages, punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The Xarelto Bleeding Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-05700-EEF-MBN in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.