The Xarelto Bleeding Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) has gained another plaintiff. An Ohio resident joined the MDL after suffering from dangerous internal bleeding allegedly caused by the drug.

After using Xarelto for about five months, the plaintiff claims she began to suffer from vaginal bleeding and blood loss anemia. The Xarelto lawsuit is one of many Xarelto bleeding complaints filed against the drug’s manufacturer, Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Plaintiff Melissa P. began to use Xarelto in January 2013. By May of 2013, she began to suffer from Xarelto bleeding side effects so severe that she required a blood transfusion in order to survive. Melissa’s lawsuit states that experienced serious and dangerous side effects including life-threatening bleeding and other severe, permanent personal injuries.

The Xarelot lawsuit says Melissa suffered physical pain and mental anguish, diminished enjoyment of life, and financial expenses for hospitalization and medical care.

Due to the nature and severity of her injuries, Melissa decided to take legal action against Janssen. She may win compensation for the injures caused by Janssen’s alleged neglect as well as the injures caused by the medication if her case is successful.

The FDA approved Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) in 2001 in order to treat systemic embolism, as well as to prevent blood clots in patients who have just undergone hip or knee replacement surgery. It is a Factor Xa inhibitor, one of a new generation of anticoagulants that have hit the market in recent years.

Xarelto was presented as an alternative to warfarin, the go-to anticoagulant that has been used for decades. Xarelto does not require blood monitoring and does not limit a patient’s diet like warfarin does.

Warfarin and other anticoagulants can cause bleeding side effects, but there are antidotes available to stop the bleeding. There is no antidote to stop Xarelto bleeding. The Xarelto MDL litigation asserts that the drug’s warning label did not include information about the lack of an antidote, and only mentioned that important fact in the overdosage section.  

Over 1 million individuals have been prescribed Xarelto. Janssen has made a large profit from the drug’s sales while some consumers have suffered from severe side effects that Janssen allegedly failed to warn against.

According to lawsuits in the Xarelto bleeding MDL, “Defendants overstated the efficacy of Xarelto with respect to preventing stroke and systemic embolism, failed to adequately disclose to patients that there is no drug, agent, or means to reverse the anticoagulation effects of Xarelto, and that such irreversibility could have permanently disabling, life-threatening and fatal consequences.”

This Xarelto bleeding lawsuit brings counts of negligence, strict liability for defective product, breach of warranty, and fraudulent misrepresentation, among other counts, against Janssen.

This Xarelto Bleeding MDL is In Re: Xarelto (rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592 filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.