Eliquis is a blood thinner medication that was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012. Pradaxa and Xarelto are similar blood thinner drugs — all three of these medications are known as Factor Xa Inhibitors.

As an oral blood thinner medication, Eliquis is prescribed to prevent strokes and blood clots. The generally accepted staple blood thinner medication is warfarin, but warfarin has grown less popular as Eliquis and similar new generation anticoagulant drugs have become more available.

The switch from more traditional blood thinner drugs like warfarin to newer ones may be because Eliquis, unlike warfarin, does not require frequent blood testing. Patients may feel that frequent blood testing is a hassle, and so a warfarin alternative that does not require such tests seems more desirable.

It is true that warfarin requires blood monitoring, which turns some patients away, but it does come with a major advantage over other blood thinner drugs: warfarin has an antidote to counteract its effects.

Eliquis Side Effects

Though the drug’s makers advertise the drug as safe and effective to use, many patients have reported several side effects after using Eliquis, including severe and even fatal bleeding side effects.

Blood thinner medication is used to prevent clotting, thereby preventing strokes and making it much more likely that an internal or gastrointestinal bleeding event could be dangerous or even fatal.

Warfarin has an antidote, returning the blood to its normal state so that a patient does not bleed excessively, making their safety and recovery more likely.

However, newer blood thinner drugs like Eliquis do not have any available measures such as the warfarin antidote to treat their potential bleeding side effects. This means that bleeding complications for patients using Eliquis and similar drugs are much more dangerous.

Eliquis Lawsuits

Because of these severe and potentially life-threatening Eliquis side effects, many patients have chosen to file Eliquis lawsuits against the drug’s manufacturers for negligence and failure to adequately warn the public and the medical community of these dangers.

Sadly, some have had to file wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of a patient who died from Eliquis uncontrollable internal bleeding or similar causes

Eliquis lawsuits allege that its manufacturers, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer, Inc., misled the public and the medical community about the safety and efficacy of Eliquis. The lawsuits claim that the pharmaceutical companies actively concealed their knowledge of the defects of Eliquis, placing patients at risk of severe medical complications.

Many Eliquis lawsuits claim that plaintiffs were never informed that the drug has such serious complications without an antidote, while other drugs did come with an antidote. Had these patients been fully aware of the risks they were taking by taking a blood thinner medication that lacked an antidote for bleeding events, these patients may have chosen differently.

If you or someone you know has taken the blood thinner Eliquis and has subsequently experienced gastrointestinal bleeding or any of these other symptoms due to Eliquis, you may have cause for filing an Eliquis lawsuit.

Eliquis lawsuits cannot reverse damage or bring a loved one back, but can help with financial needs plaintiffs may suffer through medical expenses and lost wages.