(PRWEB) December 09, 2014 -- Alonso Krangle LLP reports that plaintiffs who have filed Xarelto lawsuits over the blood thinner have asked a panel of federal judges to centralize all Xarelto lawsuits in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois. The plaintiffs said in their motion to the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) that the Xarelto complaints have the same or similar facts and commonly allege that patients who use the blood thinner medication to prevent stroke or blood clots suffer uncontrolled bleeding or death. The Xarelto lawsuits also allege that Bayer AG and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson failed to warn doctors and their patients that Xarelto has no antidote to reverse bleeding should significant bleeding events occur in patients. Bayer and Janssen, the defendants in the lawsuits, filed a response urging the JPML to reject the plaintiffs’ request to consolidate all federally filed Xarelto lawsuits in the Illinois federal court. (In Re: Xarelto Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592, JPML) Alonso Krangle LLP notes that the JPML heard oral arguments on the plaintiffs’ motion at a hearing held at the federal district court in Charleston, South Carolina on December 4.
Bloomberg reported that attorneys representing former Xarelto patients and their families who attended the JPML’s hearing asked the panel to assign the 50 cases filed in 15 different federal courts to U.S. District Judge David Herndon in the Illinois federal court. If the panel grants the request, Judge Herndon would manage pretrial proceedings of the Xarelto multidistrict litigation. Bloomberg also reported that Bayer and Johnson & Johnson, in their court filing, asked the JPML to transfer the pending Xarelto lawsuits to New Jersey where both companies have their U.S. headquarters. Bayer recommended that the judicial panel assign the Xarelto litigation to U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson in Trenton who is already managing two Xarelto cases.
[bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-04/bayer-j-j-face-calls-to-consolidate-xarelto-blood-thinner-suits.html, December 4, 2014]
Xarelto is an oral blood thinner drug that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The FDA initially approved Xarelto in July 2011 to reduce the risk of blood clots in patients who had knee or hip replacement surgery. In November 2011, the FDA expanded the use of Xarelto to reduce the risk of stroke and blood clots in patients with atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythms). One year later, the federal regulatory agency once again expanded the approved use of Xarelto to include treating deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism and to reduce the risk of those disorders from occurring following initial treatment. As it announced the expanded approval of the drug, the FDA also noted that Xarelto was the first drug since warfarin was approved 60 years ago to treat and prevent the recurrence of blood clots. The FDA approved the use of warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven) as a blood thinner in 1954. Unlike warfarin which has vitamin K as an antidote, Xarelto does not have an antidote to stop bleeding should a significant bleeding event occur in patients using Xarelto, according to the FDA.
[fda.gov/Drugs/NewsEvents/ucm405148.htm, July 17, 2014]
[fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm326654.htm, November 2, 2012]
Bloomberg reported that sales for the Xarelto drug has risen over the past year. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Xarelto generated more than $2 billion in sales by 2013, and as of the third quarter of this year, Johnson & Johnson had generated $414 million in the third quarter while Bayer generated $522.5 million in other markets over the same period of time. In their motion to the JPML to consolidate Xarelto requests, the plaintiffs noted that the “aggressive” marketing and promotion efforts of Bayer and Janssen helped to increase the sales of Xarelto. The plaintiffs, however, contend that the increased sales also contributed to the mounting number of serious adverse events associated with Xarelto. The plaintiffs’ motion stated that there were 1,080 serious Xarelto-related events, which included 65 deaths, reported to the FDA in the year leading up to June 30, 2012. By the end of 2012, there were 2,081 new serious adverse Xarelto events reported to the FDA. Of those reported, 151 resulted in death, compared to only 56 deaths associated with warfarin, the court filing said.
Learn More About Filing A Xarelto Lawsuit
If you or someone you love suffered serious side effects, such as severe bleeding, internal bleeding, blood clots, stroke or heart attack from taking Xarelto, you may be eligible to file a Xarelto lawsuit against the manufacturer of the blood thinner. For more information on the legal options available to you or to file a Xarelto lawsuit, please contact Alonso Krangle LLP by filling out our online form or by calling us at 800-403-6191.
David Krangle, Alonso Krangle LLP, http://www.fightforvictims.com, +1 800-403-6191, [email protected]
SOURCE Alonso Krangle LLP
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