Pharmaceutical manufacturers Bayer and Johnson & Johnson have asked a panel of federal judges not to consolidate lawsuits over the blood-thinner Xarelto (rivaroxaban), which is the subject of growing litigation over claims the drug of causes fatal internal bleeding.

Lawyers arguing on behalf of a centralized Xarelto litigation, which would consolidate all of the cases before a single judge, say it would save time and money by eliminating duplicate discovery, avoid conflicting rulings from different judges, and would make it more convenient for all involved parties.

If approved, one judge would oversee the entire process.

Xarelto lawsuit plaintiffs are asking that U.S District Judge David Herndon in East St. Louis, Illinois be assigned the proposed Xarelto MDL (multi-district litigation). Herndon is the same judge who was assigned to preside over a consolidated litigation of another blood-thinner, Pradaxa.

In May, Forbes reported that Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH agreed to pay $650 million in a “comprehensive settlement” of lawsuits brought against Pradaxa (dabigatran). The Pradaxa settlement was expected to resolve some 4,000 lawsuits brought by plaintiffs in the United States. Researchers linked Pradaxa to more than 500 bleeding deaths.

If the panel decides to consolidate the Xarelto litigation, Bayer and Johnson & Johnson are asking that it be assigned to a New Jersey federal court near their U.S. corporate offices, according to Bloomberg News.

“Several judges in New Jersey have the experience and docket capacity to handle these cases,” Bayer said in a Nov. 24 filing, noting that U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson in Trenton already

“Both companies are there, the executives are there and the other witnesses are there,” said Susan Sharke, a lawyer for Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary.

History of Xarelto Litigation

The Xarelto lawsuits allege severe internal bleeding and/or wrongful death caused by the anticoagulant, approved by the FDA in 2011.

The drug is 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 patients who have recently undergone a knee or hip replacement surgery. Bayer and Janssen, the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, have marketed Xarelto as a superior blood thinner alternative to Coumadin for anticoagulant therapy.

Many doctors prescribe it instead of Warfarin (Coumadin), a blood thinner that has been used in the United States for 50 years. Severe internal bleeding and death are Xarelto’s most commonly reported side effects, but others 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).

There is no known cure to reverse the type of internal bleeding caused by Xarelto