A Xarelto bleeding lawsuit was filed against drug giants Bayer and Johnson & Johnson related to safety concerns over the billion-dollar blood thinner.

An Illinois resident filed a Xarelto lawsuit against the manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceutical (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) and the co-marketer of Xarelto (also known as rivaroxban), and Bayer Healthcare AG, alleging these companies failed to warn patients and physicians of the increased risks of irreversible and fatal internal bleeding when using Xarelto.

According to the Xarelto lawsuit, plaintiff Dorothy Leach was hospitalized after she took Xarelto to treat her deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and suffered a life-threatening, irreversible gastrointestinal bleed in March. She claims the drug should not be sold and that Bayer and Johnson & Johnson continued to sell it even though they knew the risks. The companies also did not inform the public, the Xarelto bleeding lawsuit said.

The Xarelto lawsuit further accuses the defendants of purposely concealing important safety information from the medical community, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the public and alleges the companies did not test the drug enough before it was put on the market.

Xarelto Complications, Risks, and Side Effects

Approved in 2011, Xarelto is one of the newest anticoagulants. It is manufactured and marketed by Janssen Pharmaceutical and Bayer and has been widely prescribed to prevent blood clots in patients suffering from atrial fibrillation (arrhythmia of the heart), deep vein thrombosis (blood clots deep within the body), pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lungs), stroke, and for those who have recently undergone a knee or hip replacement surgery.

It generally is prescribed as an alternative to Warfarin (coumadin), a blood thinner that has been used since 1954. The most serious potential side effect linked to Xarelto is severe internal bleeding that can result in death. There is no known cure to reverse the type of internal bleeding caused by Xarelto.

Other potential injuries caused through the use of Xarelto include thrombosis (blood clots), decreased hemoglobin (a substance that carries oxygen in red blood cells), cerebrovascular accidents (an event that leads to a cerebral hemorrhage), hematoma (a semisolid mass in the blood), peripheral edema (swelling of the lower limbs), and dyspnea (difficulty breathing)

The Xarelto blood thinner lawsuit is seeking compensatory, economic, and punitive damages for Bayer and Johnson & Johnson’s alleged deceptive and reckless practices in misrepresenting and omitting numerous facts about the dangers of taking Xarelto.

The Xarelto Lawsuit is Dorothy Leach v. Janssen Research & Development LLC f/k/a Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-00989-SMY-PMF, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Benton Division.