After experiencing Xarelto GI bleeding, a patient has filed a lawsuit against the anticoagulant drug manufacturers claiming that they knew about the risks associated with Xarelto but did not warn consumers.

Plaintiff Anthony K. recently filed a lawsuit against Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, and others, alleging that he experienced Xarelto GI bleeding as a result of taking the anticoagulant drug.

Anthony says he was prescribed Xarelto and took the drug from October 2015 to February 2016. In February 2016, Anthony was hospitalized for Xarelto GI bleeding and subsequent anemia which he claims was a direct result of his treatment with the anticoagulant drug. As a result of his Xarelto GI bleeding, Anthony says he sustained various damages including physical pain, mental anguish, diminished enjoyment of life, extensive hospitalization, medical expenses, and loss of earnings.

Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is a blood thinning drug used to treat a variety of clotting disorders and side effects such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Xarelto can also be prescribed to patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgery to avoid any clotting.

According to plaintiffs like Anthony, studies regarding Xarelto have showed that the drug may not be as safe as manufacturers portray it to be. A clinical trial known as Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) was used to grant approval to the drug in 2011. However, the ROCKET AF study showed that, although the drug was noninferior to warfarin, Xarelto GI bleeding was far more common in patients treated with rivaroxaban.

Anthony claims that the drug manufacturers knew or should have known about the risks for Xarelto GI bleeding but failed to warn consumers. He also claims that the high risks for Xarelto GI bleeding can be contributed to the manufacturers’ decision to use once a day dosing and minimal monitoring.

Marketing for the drug advertises Xarelto by highlighting the “Xarelto Difference,” including once a day dosing and no blood testing requirements. Critics of the drug attribute this decision to a poor marketing scheme designed to attract consumers who are frustrated with warfarin’s dosing and blood monitoring requirements.

“The ‘Xarelto Difference’ was nothing more than a marketing campaign based on flawed science,” the Xarelto GI bleeding lawsuit claims.

In his Xarelto GI bleeding lawsuit, Anthony notes that “Xarelto’s clinical studies show that Xarelto is safer and more effective when there is blood monitoring, dose adjustments and twice a day dosing.” He claims that if the manufacturers implemented twice a day dosing and blood monitoring, the drug serum levels in the blood could be more effectively managed – reducing the risks for Xarelto GI bleeding.

The Xarelto GI bleeding lawsuit counts against the drug makers include strict liability, manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn, negligence, breach of warranties, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and violation of consumer protection laws. Anthony seeks compensatory damages, economic damages, punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The Xarelto GI Bleeding Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-08365-EEF-MBN in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.