The blood thinner Xarelto was introduced in 2011 by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and Bayer Health Care. The prescribed medication is used by millions of Americans nationwide as a way to reduce the risk of stroke. Xarelto may also be prescribed to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and other blood clot related injuries. Xarelto was originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used for patients who have had hip or knee replacement surgery and were therefore at a higher risk of developing blood clots. The FDA later revised their approval to include the additional ailments previously listed.
Xarelto may also be prescribed to patients that are suffering from an irregular heartbeat, commonly referred to as atrial fibrillation. Patients with atrial fibrillation are already at an increased risk for blood clot formation—and if blood clots were to form in the heart and travel to the brain, risk of stroke is prevalent as well. Xarelto should, according to the label provided by its manufacturers, reduce the risk of blood clots. But many patients have found out the hard way that some of the side effects of taking Xarelto are much more dangerous than the conditions they faced that lead them to taking the drug in the first place.
Most anticoagulants that are competition for Xarelto are available with reversal agents that can be used if a patient taking one of these prescriptions begins to suffer from uncontrolled bleeding. Many blood thinners carry the risk of this happening, but Xarelto users suffer a higher number of incidents than patients that are taking other prescriptions for the same ailments. That means if someone who was on Xarelto suffered from a brain bleed, or any other form of uncontrolled bleeding, it would be extremely difficult for doctors to reverse the issue. If the bleeding were to persist despite medical efforts—Xarelto patients are at a higher risk of serious injury and even death.
The manufacturers of Xarelto, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Bayer Health Care, failed to provide accurate listings for possible side effects that could potentially alert patients of the sometimes fatal injuries that occur while taking this medication. While they have provided multiple listings for issues that could possibly arise, neither company has actively addressed the growing number of cases of Xarelto patients suffering serious or fatal side effects from the drug they manufacture. Many of the attorneys and patients who are filing lawsuits against the pharmaceutical giants have called for a total recall of the prescription, stating that the medication is “unreasonably” dangerous, especially considering the overwhelming fact that it does not provide a reversal agent for its more extreme symptoms.
Johnson & Johnson and Bayer Health Care have not only declined to recall their medication from the market, but they have also extensively continued to promote Xarelto and its benefits—telling prospective patients that the drug is as safe as leading competitors. This, quite simply, just is not the case.
In addition to being more prone to uncontrolled bleeding in the brain and other areas of the body, Xarelto patients have also shown an increased risk of stroke. Patients who have filed lawsuits against the makers of Xarelto have experienced strokes, sometimes hemorrhagic strokes, as a result of taking the drug as directed. Since this drug was originally labeled to prevent strokes and blood clots, it’s extremely difficult to comprehend how something that was intended for good has caused so many bad things to happen.
Other lawsuits have been filed in related cases for patients that were taking another form of blood thinner that caused similar side effects as those described by Xarelto patients. In that settlement for that case, the pharmaceutical company responsible for manufacturing the deadly drug was called to pay a settlement fee of $650 million to resolve the litigation. That could prove to be a good indication for patients and attorneys who are working toward reaching a settlement for their Xarelto cases. While there are no pending trials at the moment, it is expected that Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, and Bayer Health Care will be called upon eventually to face retribution for their actions.
Additional information about side effects and lawsuits against these companies may be found at the following links: https://www.xarelto-us.com/atrial-fibrillation/stroke-risk