California Xarelto Subdural Hematoma Side Effect Injury Lawsuit

Thomas Coe from California, has filed a lawsuit against Bayer and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen subsidiary, claiming that his subdural hematoma bleeding injury was caused by Xarelto, a new-generation anticoagulant.

Coe recently filed his claim in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, adding to over 4,500 similar Xarelto bleeding side effect claims filed against the drug manufacturers.

According to Coe, he began using Xarelto to prevent strokes from atrial fibrillation (a common abnormal heart rhythm problem) in July 2013, and continued to receive the blood thinner through April 2014, when he suffered serious injuries from a subdural hematoma.

A subdural hematoma is a collection of blood below the inner layer of the dura but external to the brain and arachnoid membrane. Subdural hematoma is the most common type of traumatic intracranial mass lesion, and is a collection of blood on the brain. Left untreated, the subdural hematoma can be life threatening.

Federal Xarelto Multidistrict Litigation

All Xarelto product liability and personal injury lawsuits filed in U.S. District Courts nationwide have been consolidated in the Eastern District of Louisiana as part of a federal MDL, or multidistrict litigation, since December 2014. The Xarelto litigation is centralized before U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings, as is common in mass tort pharmaceutical and medical device litigation.

There are currently over 4,500 similar injury claims pending in the Xarelto MDL, alleging that Bayer and Janssen knew or should have known about the uncontrollable bleeding or hemorrhage risks with Xarelto, but hid the vital information from patients and the doctors. The plaintiffs also claim that Bayer and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen subsidiary failed to warn that Xarelto had no reversal agent in an emergency.

Xarelto Uncontrollable Bleeding Hemorrhage Side Effect Risk

Xarelto (rivaroxoaban) was released in 2011 as a replacement for Coumadin (warfarin), which has been the gold standard anticoagulant treatment for the past 60 years. Xarelto was approved by the FDA as a new generation treatment for prevention of blood clots among patients at risk for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism after major hip and knee surgeries and to prevent strokes in folks with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Xarelto is a new-generation of blood thinner, heavily promoted and touted as being easier to use than warfarin. But, an onslaught of adverse events were reported shortly after Xarelto hit the market, usually involving uncontrollable bleeds.

Unfortunately, all blood thinners have hemorrhage side effects, and the side effects of warfarin can be quickly reversed if bleeding occurs. There was no Xarelto reversal agent when the medication was released.

Xarelto MDL Bellwether Trials Pending

Judge Fallon has set a “bellwether” program, where a small group of Xarelto injury cases are being prepared for early trial dates. The Xarelto bellwether trials are set to go from February 2017 to May 2017.

Pradaxa Bleeding MDL Litigation

The Xarelto uncontrollable bleeding lawsuits involve similar claims to thousands of Pradaxa lawsuits. Pradaxa was the first new anticoagulant to be launched as a warfarin replacement, and was made by Boehringer Ingelheim based in Germany. Boehringer Ingelheim capitulated after several years of litigation, and agreed to pay $650 million in Pradaxa settlements in 2014, with an average of about $150,000 per claim.