Xarelto Blood Thinner Lawsuits Consolidated in Louisiana Federal Court -- Patients Allege Xarelto Linked to Serious Bleeding ...
December 19 2014 - 5:40PM
Business Wire
Wendy R. Fleishman of the national plaintiffs' law firm Lieff
Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced today that nearly
two dozen lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary
Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Bayer Corp. over the blood thinner
Xarelto have been consolidated in Louisiana federal court. The U.S.
Judiciary Panel on Multidistrict Litigation found that the cases
have enough common complaints to warrant centralization. Xarelto
has been linked to serious side effects including gastrointestinal
bleeding, brain bleeding, other internal bleeds, and death.
Defendants opposed centralization. They unsuccessfully argued
that there were too many discrepancies in patients' medical
histories and drug dosages to justify consolidating the lawsuits.
However, the federal judges comprising the panel found that the
lawsuits posed similar factual issues, including whether the drug's
label adequately warned of the risks of severe bleeding.
Xarelto is in the same class of drugs as Pradaxa, which was also
the subject of multi-district litigation. Many authorities claim
that these New Oral AntiCoagulants ("NOACs") require additional
measures to be safe for the patients because these drugs are blood
thinners. The manufacturers contend that patients given NOACs do
not require blood tests to monitor the effect of the blood thinner,
while plaintiffs in the Xarelto lawsuits alleged that patients
given NOACs like Xarelto should be monitored in order to avoid
bleeding episodes. Unlike the generic drug Warfarin, Xarelto's
bleeding episodes are not reversible and can be fatal.
Xarelto is a much more popular drug than Pradaxa and was thus
used by many more patients. The Xarelto lawsuits follow the recent
settlement of more than 4,000 Pradaxa cases for $650 million. The
claims in that case linked Pradaxa to more than 500 deaths.
Xarelto is a novel oral anticoagulant approved in the United
States for six indications including reducing the risk of stroke in
patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation; treating deep vein
thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and reducing the reoccurrence of
these conditions; and preventing blood clots in patients following
knee or hip replacement surgery.
Xarelto carries a black box warning for an increased risk of
blood clots with premature discontinuation of therapy and a risk of
epidural or spinal hematomas resulting in long-term or permanent
paralysis in patients treated with Xarelto receiving neuraxial
anesthesia or undergoing spinal puncture. Black box warnings are
the most serious type of warning issued by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), and are reserved for drugs that carry a
significant risk of serious or life-threatening adverse
effects.
Xarelto blood thinner litigation has been consolidated before
U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon in the Eastern District of
Louisiana, who, in 2007, presided over suits against Merck &
Co. over its medication Vioxx. The Vioxx litigation resulted in a
$4.85 billion settlement.
Contact Lieff Cabraser
If you or a family member have taken Xarelto and suffered a
bleeding injury, please visit
http://www.lieffcabraser.com/Personal--Injury/Drugs/Xarelto-Side-Effects-and-Complications.shtml
to contact Lieff Cabraser for a prompt and confidential evaluation
of your case. There is no charge or obligation to review your case.
Or call us toll-free at 1 800-541-7358 and ask to speak to attorney
Paulina do Amaral.
About Lieff Cabraser
Lieff Cabraser has played a leading role in many of the largest,
most important personal injury law and wrongful death lawsuits in
the U.S. over the past four decades. We are experienced injury
trial lawyers that represent only plaintiffs. Many of our attorneys
have been recognized by national and state publications as leading
personal injury attorneys. The National Law Journal has repeatedly
selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in
the nation. U.S. News and Best Lawyers has recognized our personal
injury lawyers and firm as the nation's Law Firm of the Year in the
category of Mass Torts and Plaintiffs' Class Action for four
separate years, including 2014.
This press release may be considered advertising in certain
jurisdictions. Prior results do not guarantee a similar
outcome.
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLPWendy Fleishman,
212-355-9500