A recent Xarelto bleeding lawsuit claims that the blood thinner increases the chance of life threatening bleeding events.

Plaintiff Larhonda B. reportedly was treated with Xarelto for pulmonary embolism between May 2016 and April 2017. In April 2017, she allegedly experienced life threatening bleeding from her uterus and rectum. According to her recent lawsuit against Xarelto manufacturers, this life threatening bleed caused “severe and permanent personal injuries, pain, suffering, and emotional distress”.

Xarelto is a blood thinning medication used to reduce the risk of stroke and clotting and to treat a variety of conditions including non-valvular atrial fibrillation, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism. The drug may also be prescribed to patients before or after hip or knee replacement surgery which may increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis.

Like many modern blood thinners, Xarelto competes with warfarin – a blood thinner which has been the established treatment for stroke and clotting for 60 years. In order to compete with this established drug, Xarelto is allegedly marketed as a once a day dosage with fewer dietary restrictions than warfarin.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a variety of side effects may occur with Xarelto. Common side effects reportedly include back pain, bloody stools, dizziness, headache, numbness, prolonged bleeding, and more. Less common side effects reportedly include fainting and wound secretion, while rare side effects reportedly include urination difficulties. Mayo Clinic notes that patients should check with their doctor “immediately” if they experience these side effects as they may be indicative of a life threatening bleeding event.

Although the side effects of Xarelto are reportedly well documented, the drug’s manufacturers allegedly concealed the fact that Xarelto may cause severe bleeding. Instead of warning the public, manufacturers allegedly represented their drug as safe and recommended for treatment plants.

“Defendants concealed their knowledge of Xarelto’s defects from Plaintiff, the FDA, the public in general, and/or the medical community specifically,” the Xarelto bleeding lawsuit argues.

Larhonda argues that Xarelto is more dangerous because it lacked an antidote until only recently. Unlike warfarin, which can be reversed by flooding the body with vitamin K, Xarelto was unable to be reversed during life threatening bleeding for many years.

“The original U.S. label approved when the drug was first marketed in the U.S. did not contain a warning regarding the lack of antidote, but instead only mentioned this important fact in the overdosage section,” Larhonda claims.

The Xarelto lawsuit includes claims of negligence, strict products liability, breach of warranties, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud & deceit. Larhonda seeks compensatory damages (pain, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.), economic damages (medical expenses, out of pocket expenses, lost earnings, etc.), punitive damages (for wanton, willful, fraudulent, and reckless acts allegedly committed by the defendants), court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The Xarelto Bleeding Lawsuit is Case No. 2:19-cv-00464-EEF-MBN and is part of the Xarelto MDL, In re: Xarelto (rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.