A judge is attempting to resolve some of the outstanding issues in the Xarelto MDL in the Eastern District of Louisiana, where all federal Xarelto lawsuits have been consolidated for pre-trial proceedings.

A recent order addressed problems with the plaintiff and defendant fact sheets, the deposition of witnesses, the bundling of complaints and their answers, the selection of bellwether trials, and the scheduling of “science days” for the various Xarelto lawsuits involved in the MDL.

Below are deadlines that were set by the court in the Xarleto MDL.

April 30: The defendants of the Xarelto MDL were required to produce numerous documents for the plaintiffs involved in the various Xarelto lawsuits, including documents with important details regarding the development, manufacturing, marketing, and sale of the popular anticoagulant drug. The defendants also needed to submit a corporate organization chart and a separate document employee contact information for the companies involved in this Xarelto lawsuits.

May 1: On this date and moving forward, the process of collecting defendants’ witness depositions began.

June 11: Set as “science day,” during which all parties involved met to discuss scientific reports and research publications pertinent to the Xarelto MDL. This included research studies that demonstrate the risks and side effects of taking Xarelto, including Xarelto bleeding.

June 15: Parties involved in the Xarelto MDL met to identify 40 to 60 plaintiffs to participate in discovery, as well as to discuss the timing of future dates for bellwether trials.

Xarelto Lawsuits Consolidated

The reason to consolidate hundreds of Xarelto lawsuits filed in federal courts across the nation was to create a more efficient way to handle all the claims filed against Xarelto’s manufacturer and other pharmaceutical companies for allegedly dangerous side effects.

Originally released in 2011, Xarelto is part of a group of new generation anticoagulant medications that have become the preferred prescription treatment for patients who have recently undergone hip and knee replacements, as well as those suffering from atrial fibrillation.

However, after just one year on the market, adverse event reports were being submitted to the FDA concerning serious Xarelto side effects such as hemorrhaging and uncontrollable bleeding.

All anticoagulants carry a risk of bleeding, but plaintiffs filing Xarelto lawsuits claim that the manufacturers failed to fully warn consumers and doctors of all the risks associated with using the blood thinner. Instead, they claim the pharmaceutical companies overstated Xarelto’s efficacy as an anticoagulant treatment while simultaneously downplaying the known Xarelto side effects.

More than 400 Xarelto injury lawsuits have been filed under the MDL, and an additional 200 are pending in a mass tort case in Pennsylvania.