The Number of Xarelto Legal Cases Rises

The number of people taking legal action against the Janssen Pharmaceuticals that produced Xarelto, a drug that is thins the blood. The reason that the initial lawsuit came about is because the drug caused people serious damage, most commonly it causes uncontrollable bleeding. People who suffered this side effect can see untold damage to their bodies, and that’s why one of the biggest the mass torts in recent times is now going forward.

The number of people deciding that they want to take action against the pharmaceutical company is rising by the day, and it could cost the company vast sums of money. There are now more than 400 pending lawsuits that are waiting to be heard in court. If the claimants get their way, they’ll be paid big fees in compensation for the pain and distress that has been caused to them since the incident took place.

The claimants say that the company that produced and sold the drugs should be held accountable for the damage that has been inflicted. The severe bleeding even led to death in some cases, so those cases are being pursued by relatives of the deceased. This means feelings are highly charged, and the claimants are certainly not going to back down without a fight.

These claims are contested by the producer of Xarelto though. They say that there are risks, but every drug that hits the market has risks, and there’s no way of avoiding that. In their opinion on balance, the drug has a reasonable risk-balance outcome. This means they think the drug proposes significant benefits to the vast majority of patients who use the drug to thin their blood.

Xarelto was approved by the FDA in 2011; it was initially seen as a rival to the more common blood thinner, warfarin. Someone who takes warfarin has to change their diet in certain regards and has to be taken multiple times each day. This is why Xarelto was seen as the better option because it required no changes to diet and only needs to be taken once each day. The positivity surrounding the drug didn’t last for long though.

Within a year of being on the market, the reports of excessive bleeding and even death as a result of taking the drug were starting to pile up. More than 150 people had died after suffering uncontrollable bleeding, and that was in just one year. All blood thinning drugs put people at risk of more bleeding, but it was not expected to happen at this level. There seems to be no antidote that can counter the side effects of Xarelto either.

The fact that there’s no way to stop the bleeding once it starts makes the drug dangerous. And in the eyes of the claimants, it’s proof that they are due the compensation money they are fighting for. Patients are also unhappy about how they were left in the dark by the drug company after they suffered the side effects of the drug. It remains to be seen what the outcome of the mass tort will be when the case goes to court.