A growing number of blood thinner patients are coming forward with allegations against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, claiming that they have suffered from a serious Pradaxa bleeding injury that they were not adequately warned about.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals has already been hit with thousands of lawsuits over Pradaxa bleeding injury problems, which claim that the company failed to give adequate warning about this risk to patients and the medical community as a whole.

While a certain number of side effects are to be expected for a medication, these complications should be included in the drug’s warnings. Pradaxa lawsuits claim that the drug’s manufacturer either knew or should have known about the adverse effects of Pradaxa, including Pradaxa bleeding injury, and had a responsibility to warn consumers to prevent potential injuries.

Pradaxa Basics

Pradaxa is a popular anticoagulant from manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, and was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010. Pradaxa is one of several blood thinner options recently brought into the market, a group meant to replace the go-to anticoagulant warfarin that had been around for decades.

Many patients decided to make the switch to Pradaxa. In fact, after under two years of availability on the market, 3.7 million patients in the U.S. had decided to use Pradaxa. Pradaxa is also sold under its generic name, dabigatran. Given the popularity and widespread usage of the drug, any adverse effects of Pradaxa may threaten the millions of people that now use it.

Risk of Pradaxa Bleeding Injury

Anticoagulants are well-known to cause excessive bruising and bleeding, by their very nature as a blood thinning drug, since the body is unable to form blood clots that help stem bleeding. Pradaxa is no exception to this rule, and also carries with it risks of excessive bruising and bleeding.

Anticoagulants generally come with an antidote to reverse the effects in case of a major bleeding problem. However, for years, Pradaxa had no such antidote available to counteract a serious bleeding problem. If a patient suffered from a Pradaxa bleeding injury, the excessive bleeding could become much more serious because of this.

The most severe Pradaxa bleeding injury problems are heart attacks, liver failure, uncontrollable bleeding and even death. The most common of these complications is excessive bleeding, which in turn, can lead to brain hemorrhaging or a fatality. In fact, more than 500 of the 3,781 reported Pradaxa adverse events in 2011 were ultimately fatal.

Filing a Lawsuit over Pradaxa Bleeding Injury

If you or someone you know has taken Pradaxa and has subsequently experienced a Pradaxa bleeding injury, you may have cause for filing a Pradaxa lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by Pradaxa bleeding injury, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden incurred by medical expenses and lost wages.