A new Xarelto lawsuit has joined the mass litigation that claims Xarelto is a dangerous drug.

Plaintiff Cheryl B. of Illinois filed the Xarelto lawsuit over allegations that the anticoagulant caused life-threatening injuries.

According to the Xarelto lawsuit, Cheryl’s physicians prescribed her Xarelto in 2013 to control blood clots in her body. However, less than two months after Cheryl took the drug, she was rushed in for emergency medical care.

The Xarelto lawsuit alleges that Cheryl suffered gastrointestinal bleeding from Xarelto. In a gastrointestinal bleed, a minor injury somewhere along the digestive tract, bleeds severely.

Normally, minor injuries to the GI tract may heal themselves. But for a patient on a drug like Xarelto, even minor bleeding events can turn life-threatening due to the way blood thinners like Xarelto work.

Xarelto Bleeding Complications

Xarelto is an anticoagulant or “blood thinner,” a drug designed to interfere with the clotting process. In a healthy person, clotting is a normal part of the healing process after injuries.

But sometimes the process can misfire causing blood clots to form within the body, where they can block critical blood vessels like those of the brain and heart. Medications like Xarelto can help reduce the risk of these dangerous blood clots—but carry risks of their own.

All anticoagulants carry the risk of working too well by blocking the clotting process entirely. When this happens, the tiniest cut or bruise can become a medical emergency.

Since the body cannot stop bleeding, and blood is physically thinner, the patient may bleed to death from very minor injuries. But Xarelto lawsuits allege that Xarelto has special risks above and beyond those of other anticoagulants.

Xarelto Internal Bleeding Lawsuits

Numerous Xarelto lawsuits allege that the blood thinner is not as safe as older anticoagulants. Specifically, anticoagulants that have reversal agents available—a second drug that can shut off the anticoagulant if a patient experiences uncontrollable bleeding.

For example, with Warfarin (Coumadin) a very large dose of vitamin K can actually turn the drug off, and allow patients to form blood clots in an emergency.

This works because Warfarin interferes with the clotting process that depends on vitamin K, and a very large dose of the vitamin can overwhelm Warfarin, effectively turning off the drug.

Despite the fact that Xarelto has no known reversal agent, Xarelto lawsuits allege that the drug’s maker marketed it as safer than traditional medications like Warfarin.

Cheryl’s Xarelto lawsuit describes her gastrointestinal bleeding experience as painful and life threatening. Her lawsuit further alleges that the incident has shortened her life expectancy.

As a result, the Xarelto lawsuit seeks to recoup the costs of medical care, lost wages, compensation for pain and suffering, and other compensation for her alleged Xarelto bleeding.

The Xarelto lawsuit has been filed against several drug companies involved with the production, development, and marketing of Xarelto, including Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

The Xarelto Internal Bleeding Lawsuit is In RE: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 2:15-cv-01122-EEF-MBN and MDL No. 2592, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.