Illinois wrongful death lawsuit filed over blood thinning medication

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed in federal court over a blood thinning medication.

The lawsuit was filed against a number of corporations that are part of Bayer Corporation and Johnson & Johnson, the marketers and manufacturers of Xarelto, a blood thinner, on behalf of the family of a man who died in 2013 after a bleeding event allegedly caused by Xarelto.

Xarelto was approved by the FDA for sale in the U.S. in 2011. It is the second in a new class of anticoagulants to be approved, after Pradaxa, which was approved in 2010. The new drugs are marketed as an improvement over warfarin or Coumadin, which is often used in stroke prevention, but may disrupt vitamin K levels and requires frequent blood testing.

In late 2014, litigants sought to establish a multidistrict litigation (MDL) for Xarelto cases. Most plaintiffs requested that the MDL be established under Judge Herndon in East St. Louis, Illinois, but the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation chose U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon in New Orleans to oversee the MDL.

The Xarelto litigation focuses on the alleged insufficiency of warning labels, including the alleged failure to warn prescribing physicians and patients that some patients are at higher risk for a bleeding event.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago work accidents and wrongful death lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

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