A woman has filed a Xarelto lawsuit within the pending multidistrict litigation alleging that the popular blood thinning medication led her to develop gastrointestinal bleeding. Her husband has joined the Xarelto lawsuit with a claim of loss of spousal companionship.

Plaintiffs Dorothy Mae S. and Wyman S. have brought forth the gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuit in Louisiana federal court where a Xarelto multidistrict litigation is currently consolidated under U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals and parent company Johnson & Johnson, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and their related companies are named in this gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuit.

According to the complaint, Dorothy Mae began taking Xarelto at the advice of her physician on June 4, 2013 in order to treat her atrial fibrillation, her gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuit states.

In addition to treating atrial fibrillation, Xarelto has also been approved to treat and prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. It’s also used with patients who have undergone major surgery in order to reduce the risk of blood clot development following major procedures.

“Upon information and belief, as a direct and proximate result of the use of Defendants’ Xarelto, Plaintiff … suffered a gastrointestinal bleed on or around June 12, 2014, at such time she was instructed to discontinue Xarelto use,” the gastrointestinal bleeding lawsuit states.

Xarelto is one of several new generation oral anticoagulants that were developed to be a superior blood thinner to warfarin, the industry standard for the last six decades.

Unlike warfarin, Xarelto has more standardized dosing, does not require frequent blood monitoring and adjustment, and does not require patients to follow a specialized diet while they take the medication. Patients and physicians alike found Xarelto to be easier to administer.

However, along with its ease-of-use came severe complications that could not be reversed, unlike with warfarin. When patients began suffering gastrointestinal bleeding or other internal bleeding injuries after using warfarin, emergency room personnel could administer fresh frozen plasma or intravenous vitamin K to stop the effects of warfarin and to restart the body’s natural clotting mechanisms.

Xarelto does not have any such reversal agent or antidote when a person begins to suffer from internal bleeding. This has been a concern since Xarelto was initially released onto the market.

So many individuals have suffered from irreversible internal bleeding that thousands of Xarelto lawsuits have been filed. Claims file din the federal court system have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation to streamline the judicial process.

Dorothy Mae and Wyman have raised claims of strict liability, manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, violation of consumer protection and consumer fraud laws and loss of consortium (spousal companionship).

The couple is seeking a jury trial and is looking for an award of compensatory damages for pain, suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life and other noneconomic damages, economic damages for medical expenses and lost earnings, and punitive and/or exemplary damages “for the wanton, willful, fraudulent, reckless acts of the Defendants who demonstrated a complete disregard and reckless indifference for the safety and welfare of the general public and to Plaintiffs,” pre-and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and any additional relief as deemed just and proper by the Court.

The Xarelto Gastrointestinal Bleeding Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-03700 and is part of the Xarelto MDL In re: Xarelto (rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.