Lawsuits against Boehringer Ingelheim, maker of the popular blood thinner Pradaxa, continue to be filed in courts across the country.

These lawsuits allege that the manufacturer neglected to adequately warn patients, physicians, the medical community and the public about the bleeding risks and associated Pradaxa injuries.

What Is Pradaxa?

Pradaxa (dabigatran) is one of several new generation oral anticoagulant medications that has hit the market in the last decade. Pradaxa and its fellow new anticoagulants were developed as an alternative to warfarin (Coumadin), a drug that has been used almost exclusively as a blood thinner since the 1950s.

Pradaxa was designed to be an improvement over warfarin and claimed to do so by offering easier dosing which required less frequent blood monitoring, as well as by offering a medication that did not require patients to undertake dietary restrictions.

Pradaxa is approved to treat atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm that can potentially cause stroke or heart attack. It is used preventatively to reduce the risk of blood clots during major surgery, such as knee replacement surgery or hip surgery and it is used to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).

Pradaxa soon became a top selling drug shortly after its release. But along with a quick increase in sales, reports of Pradaxa injuries also saw a steady increase after its entrance into the market.

Risks of Pradaxa Injuries

The use of any blood thinner comes with the risk of sustaining internal bleeding injuries. This is because blood thinners block the body’s natural clotting mechanisms. While this helps prevent things like heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism by thinning the blood, it does not allow the body to make clots to stop bleeding, especially with internal bleeding injuries.

Since the body cannot make clots to stop the internal bleeding, the risk of excessive bleeding, including fatal bleeding, is increased. Pradaxa injuries have added a whole new level to excessive bleeding due to blood thinner use.

With warfarin, in the case of excessive bleeding, when patients were hospitalized they had access to reversal agents to stop the bleeding and restore the body’s natural clotting mechanisms to slow or stop the bleed. Fresh frozen plasma and intravenous vitamin K work to restore these natural mechanisms. But this didn’t work for other blood thinners.

When Pradaxa was released and throughout the first five years of its time on the market, there was no way to reverse bleeding once it started for patients using the drug. Their only recourse was to be hospitalized for stabilization and wait until the medication was processed out of the body. This caused severe Pradaxa bleeding injuries that were sometimes fatal.

Since late 2015, there is a reversal agent available for Pradaxa users suffering from internal bleeding. Praxbind was developed for this purpose. However, for many years prior, patients suffered Pradaxa injuries that could not be reversed.

Filing a Lawsuit over Pradaxa Injuries

Many lawsuits have been filed against Pradaxa injuries. In 2014, the manufacturer agreed to a $650 million settlement to resolve claims that it failed to warn patients of the bleeding risk and lack of antidote and that it sold a defective product. Each plaintiff in the settled lawsuits received about $162,500.

Lawsuits continue to be filed over Pradaxa injuries. If you or a loved one has suffered Pradaxa injuries, you may be eligible to seek legal compensation from the manufacturer. An experienced Pradaxa attorney can review your case at no charge and can help you navigate the legal options available to you.