Pradaxa Lawsuit News: Bernstein Liebhard LLP Notes Judge’s Decision to Fine Boehringer Ingelheim for Failing to Preserve Documents Relevant to Pradaxa Bleeding Claims
New York, NY (PRWEB) December 10, 2013 -- As hundreds of Pradaxa lawsuits (http://www.pradaxalawsuithelp.com/ ) continue to move forward in a federal multidistrict litigation underway in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, Bernstein Liebhard LLP notes that the judge overseeing the proceeding has fined Boehringer Ingelheim nearly $1 million after determining that the company withheld or failed to preserve numerous documents sought by plaintiffs with cases pending in the litigation. In his December 9th ruling, U.S. District Judge David Herndon called the company’s conduct egregious, and ordered it to pay a sanction of over $931,000. He also wrote in his 51-page decision that Boehringer Ingelheim’s efforts to preserve the documents were “grossly inadequate” and that the company had “made misrepresentations” regarding its efforts. (In Re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Products Liability Litigation – MDL No. 2385)
According to court documents, plaintiffs have asserted that Boehringer Ingelheim should have placed a litigation hold on certain documents pertaining to Pradaxa’s development, as well as the company’s marketing plan for the blood thinner. Plaintiffs in Pradaxa lawsuits also accused the company of failing to order employees to save phone messages pertaining to their work on the drug.
“We have heard from numerous plaintiffs seeking to file lawsuits over alleged Pradaxa bleeding. We are monitoring this litigation very closely as it moves towards its first bellwether trials later next year,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is currently offering free Pradaxa lawsuit evaluations to individuals who suffered serious internal bleeding while using this medication.
Pradaxa Lawsuits
Court documents indicate that more than 1,700 lawsuits have been filed in the Southern District of Illinois on behalf of alleged victims of Pradaxa bleeding. All of the lawsuits accuse Boehringer Ingelheim of concealing knowledge about the drug’s risks when it was brought to market in October 2010. Plaintiffs also allege that the company failed to provide adequate warnings regarding the lack of an effective antidote for Pradaxa bleeding.
In October, the Institute for Safe Medicine Practices (ISMP) revealed that Pradaxa had been named in more adverse event reports than any other drug monitored by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). In 2012, the FDA received 3,200 reports of Pradaxa side effect including 582 that had fatal outcomes. The same year, warfarin, a much older blood thinner, was the subject of just 861 reports, including 56 deaths. Among other things, the ISMP said that physicians should be provided with better information to manage the risks associated with Pradaxa, especially since there is currently no antidote for reversing the internal bleeding that is sometimes associated with its use.
Patients who allegedly suffered life-threatening episodes of internal bleeding while using Pradaxa may be entitled to compensation for their injuries. To learn more about potential Pradaxa bleeding side effects, please visit Bernstein Liebhard LLP’s website. For a free case review, please call 800-511-5092.
*ismp.org/QuarterWatch/pdfs/2012Q4.pdf, ISMP, October 17, 2013
About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993, including those who have been harmed by dangerous drugs, defective medical devices and consumer products. The firm has been named by The National Law Journal to the “Plaintiffs’ Hot List,” recognizing the top plaintiffs’ firms in the country, for the past 11 consecutive years.
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Contact Information:
Felecia L. Stern, Esq.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP
info (at) consumerinjurylawyers (dot) com
http://www.pradaxalawsuithelp.com/
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Felecia L. Stern, Pradaxa Lawsuit Information Center, http://www.pradaxalawsuithelp.com/, +1 800-511-5092, [email protected]
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