The pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest and most important industries today. Medicine has proven its significance to the world, especially with the whole world experiencing a pandemic. Scientists have made it their mission to provide people cures, treatments, and vaccines to improve and sustain their lives.
Pharmaceutical drugs are major substances used in health services. Unfortunately, despite the huge benefit of these, there are still negative side effects that can be harmful to users.
It is not new hearing lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for malpractices or harmful drugs in the news. One of the latest famous drug lawsuits was against the three of the biggest pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies, Bayer Corporation and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
What is Xarelto?
Xarelto is an anticoagulant drug produced by Bayer together with Janssen Pharmaceuticals. It was released back in 2011. Xarelto is a rivaroxaban drug, which is an anti-clotting drug. It is usually prescribed for patients who are at high risk of experiencing blood clots. It is also given to those who have atrial fibrillation (AFib) as well as patients who just had knee or hip replacements.
This drug was given high praise and was considered to be a groundbreaking new drug when it was introduced in 2011. Xarelto is different from the usual anticoagulant drugs. Usually, anticoagulant drugs like warfarin still needed to be accompanied by regular blood tests, and where users needed to maintain a strict diet, but Xarelto was effective just simply by taking a pill daily.
It is worth noting that Xarelto is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent blood clots and deep vein thrombosis.
The Xarelto Lawsuit Explained
Although Xarelto is a great drug that was effective in preventing blood clots, there were a lot of complaints gathered against it. There are thousands of patients who were said to be victims of the negative side effects of the drug Xarelto. The expert blog at Drug Guardians says that patients who filed cases against Bayer Corporation and Janssen Pharmaceuticals claim that they were not aware that taking Xarelto can lead to possible stroke, internal bleeding, other serious injuries, and death. Aside from the makes not sharing the possible side effects of the product, the famous pharmaceutical companies were also allegedly accused of:
- Not sharing the fact that there is no available antidote for excessive bleeding or any bleeding issues at the time
- Misleading medical practitioners and patients with false advertisements
- Producing researches with untrue results to make Xarelto look safe
Xarelto was produced in 2011, but the first complaint was filed in 2014. The first case was filed in Pennsylvania, where a woman named Virginia Stunteneck suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding because of Xarelto. There were only six lawsuits that went into a trial, and all were in favor of the accused party.
The Antidote Issue by Xarelto
The production and approval of the Andexxa last May 2018 (produced by Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb), an antidote that prevents bleeding – which is the major side effect of Xarelto, was somehow an advantage for the drug makers of Xarelto. Since there was an antidote available to fix the bleeding caused by Xarelto, it is not deemed safe to use. This complicated the Xarelto lawsuit.
Since then, possible victims have slimmer chances of winning. However, if victims have experienced any injury from using Xarelto before the antidote, they are still encouraged to file a case.
The Xarelto Mishap Continues in the Following Years
The Xarelto lawsuit was clearly not a walk in a park. Despite the win of the pharmaceutical companies, there was a certain case where they almost lost. However, in the end, it was a setback for the complainants and a win for Bayer and Janssen. In 2017, a trial in Philadelphia charged Xarelto makers a fine of almost 28 million dollars to the plaintiff but the court took back the verdict because of an issue concerning the plaintiff’s doctor.
There were over 25,000 cases that were presented in multidistrict litigation. These are pending cases that have been put into rest after the agreed settlement to be given by the drugmakers. In 2019, Bayer Corporation and Janssen Pharmaceuticals paid 775 million dollars to the victims.
Drug-related cases are always complicated. The Xarelto Lawsuit lasted for almost six years. It has died down since the antidote, Andexxa, was released and the settlement in 2019, but there are still cases against Xarelto up until today. Alleged victims can still file complaints against the companies if their situation fits certain criteria.