More and more patients are filing blood thinner lawsuits against drug manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim over a number of serious Pradaxa adverse effects.

Background of Pradaxa

The blood thinning drug Pradaxa (also known by its generic name, dabigatran) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a replacement for the drug warfarin in 2010. For many years, warfarin was the most popular blood thinner option, but the traditional anticoagulant staple has been falling to the wayside as newer options like Pradaxa have entered the market.

Since its FDA approval less than a decade ago, Pradaxa has become one of the most popular anticoagulant medications currently available.

The popularity of Pradaxa may, in part, be attributed to the fact that it does not require constant blood monitoring checkups. Warfarin, by contrast, has always required patients taking the drug to come in for blood checkups.

Though Pradaxa is considerably more expensive than warfarin, many patients feel that its lack of blood monitoring makes the option involving fewer trips to the doctor more convenient. This preference is evidenced in the fact that, just a few years after its FDA approval, millions of anticoagulant users had already switched to Pradaxa.

Unfortunately, the widespread popularity of Pradaxa has a downside. With so many patients using this new medication, this means that any Pradaxa adverse effects can affect a significant number of people. And indeed, this isn’t just a hypothetical problem — so far, thousands of patients have reported suffering from a wide variety of Pradaxa adverse effects.

Pradaxa Adverse Effects

While Pradaxa users have reported several Pradaxa adverse effects after taking the drug, the most dangerous of these complications is excessive bleeding. Of course, any anticoagulant can cause excessive bleeding — this side effect goes hand in hand with being a blood thinner.

However, the risk associated with excessive bleeding is greater with Pradaxa since, unlike other drugs including warfarin, Pradaxa has had no antidote that can be used to reverse its effects in case of a bleeding emergency until very recently.

When a person is suffering from excessive bleeding, their body attempts to combat the effects by forming blood clots to slow the bleeding and allow for medical treatment. However, blood thinners such as Pradaxa can prevent these potentially life-saving blood clots from being able to form at all. Excessive bleeding can, in some cases, lead to brain hemorrhaging or even death.

Other serious Pradaxa adverse effects that have been linked with the drug include heart attacks, liver failure, and even death.

Filing a Lawsuit over Pradaxa Adverse Effects

These serious bleeding Pradaxa adverse effects, including dangerous bleeding side effects, have caused many patients to file Pradaxa lawsuits against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, alleging that the company failed to adequately warn consumers and the medical community about the risks associated with their drug.

If you or someone you love has taken Pradaxa and has subsequently experienced any of the above symptoms, such as excessive bleeding or brain hemorrhaging, you may have cause for filing a Pradaxa lawsuit against Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.

While filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by Pradaxa adverse effects, it can help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages.