Latest Pradaxa Bleeding Lawsuits Allegations Update: Resource4thePeople Reports Important Hearing Scheduled as Number of Cases Continues to Increase
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) August 21, 2013 -- http://www.resource4thepeople.com/defectivedrugs/pradaxa-lawsuits.html
Resource4thePeople announced today its latest update for consumers tracking the progress of lawsuits alleging that the use of the popular blood thinner Pradaxa may cause internal bleeding problems.
An important hearing has been scheduled by the U.S. District Court judge overseeing federal Pradaxa lawsuits* alleging serious bleeding problems that have been consolidated before him for pre-trial evidence-gathering and other legal actions.
The status conference has been scheduled for Sept. 4, 2013 in the East St. Louis Courthouse by Judge David R. Herndon, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, according to the court file.
"A status conference is an important hearing at which the judge meets with attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants to discuss the progress and possible complications involved in this litigation," said Resource4thePeople.
"It is common for details to be discussed which will be important not only to those involved in specific Pradaxa lawsuits alleging internal bleeding incidents but also to other consumers who may have used Pradaxa but have not filed a lawsuit."
Resource4thePeople will continue to provide updates of this and other litigation involving Pradaxa and its nationwide network of attorneys also will continue to offer free consultations to consumers seeking information about their legal rights to seek compensation over allegations of Pradaxa bleeding problems.
"In reviewing the increasing number of inquiries we have been receiving from consumers about Pradaxa claims it is apparent that many consumers are confused about what legal rights they may have in this matter," said Resource4thePeople.
"The fact is that even though there is a multidistrict consolidation before Judge Herndon in Illinois other consumers are still eligible to file their own Pradaxa bleeding lawsuits alleging the same serious health problems."
Another important development in this litigation is that the number of Pradaxa lawsuits alleging serious bleeding problems before Judge Herndon has increased to at least 1,420 as of Aug, 19, 2013, according to the court file in the litigation.*
“It is clear from these figures that there are increasing numbers of consumers coming forth with allegations that they have suffered devastating health problems that they attribute to their use of the blood-thinner Pradaxa,” said Resource4thePeople.
Bloomberg News, in a Dec. 11, 2012 posting, reported** that Pradaxa “has been linked to more than 500 U.S. deaths over a two-year period.”
Bloomberg also reported that “Concerns about Pradaxa’s safety surfaced soon after U.S. doctors began prescribing it. FDA officials said they received reports of 542 deaths and 3,781 side-effect incidents tied to the drug in 2011."
Resource4thePeople said that along with updates about the progress of the Pradaxa litigation it will also provide consumers with important developments from medical studies and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in connection with the medication.
One such important news development is the recently announced result of an important medical research study presented July 1, 2013 at the Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.***
Physicians attending the congress in The Netherlands were told that a study that involved over 23,000 patients showed that those taking Pradaxa (dabigaltran etexilate) as a blood thinner were up to 45% more likely to suffer a heart attack than other patients.
Here was the conclusion of the study as presented to the congress:
“This meta-analysis of RCTs (randomized control trials) provides robust evidence that DE (dabigaltran etexilate) is associated with a significantly increased risk of MI (myrocardial infarction), especially at high dose (150mg bid). No firm conclusion can be taken with the lower DE dose (110mg bid) because of the limited number of studies included in this meta-analysis.
“Health care professionals and regulators should consider appropriate strategy to prevent such serious adverse drug reactions. The limitation of the use of DE in patients at high risk or suffering from coronary heart disease, the concomitant use of aspirin or switching to a FXa inhibitor should be carefully considered.”
Resource4thePeople notes that this finding comes just several months after the FDA issued a Drug Safety Communication warning Dec. 19, 2012 that the medication should not be used in patients with mechanical prosthetic heart valves.****
Here is a part of that warning:
“The FDA issued a Drug Safety Communication informing healthcare professionals and the public that the anticoagulant Pradaxa should not be used to prevent stroke or blood clots in patients with mechanical heart valves.
“The RE-ALIGN clinical trial in Europe was recently stopped because Pradaxa users were more likely to experience strokes, heart attacks, and blood clots forming on the mechanical heart valves than were users of the anticoagulant warfarin. There was also more bleeding after valve surgery in the Pradaxa users than in warfarin users.”
“Consumers should know that there may be time limits affecting their eligibility to seek compensation in such cases and we urge them to contact us as soon as possible to preserve all legal options,” said Resource4thePeople.
The court file in the multidistrict litigation* sums up the Pradaxa allegations:
“All the actions share common factual questions arising out of allegations that plaintiffs suffered severe bleeding or other injuries as a result of taking the drug Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate) and that defendants did not adequately warn prescribing physicians of the risks associated with Pradaxa, including the potential for severe or fatal bleeding, and that there is no reversal agent to counteract the Pradaxa’s anticoagulation effects.”
Sources:
*MDL No. 2385, IN RE: Pradaxa Product Liability Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois
** http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-11/boehringer-sued-by-hundreds-over-bleeding-tied-to-pradaxa.html
***http://eventure-online.com/eventure/publicAbstractView.do?id=215979&congressId=6839
****http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugSafetyPodcasts/ucm333209.htm
Bill Callahan, iLawSuit, +1 (858) 602-2749, [email protected]
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