Xarelto Lawyer

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Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is an anticoagulant (blood thinner) medication used to help prevent the risk of stroke. Xarelto was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011 for patients who had knee or hip replacement surgery in order to reduce the formation of blood clots. Later that year, the FDA expanded approval of Xarelto for patients suffering from atrial fibrillation. In 2012, the drug was fully approved by the FDA for general treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).

A Xarelto lawyer can help answer your questions and guide you through the legal process if you are looking to file a claim against the manufacturers of this drug.

What Are Complications of Xarelto?

Unfortunately, Xarelto has been linked to serious complications. These side-effects can range from mild to life-threatening. Some of the mild side-effects of Xarelto include dizziness, headache, rapid heartbeat, and muscle pain. More serious side effects of the drug include uncontrolled bleeding inside the body near major organs such as the brain, kidneys and lungs. When this happens, blood flow to these areas of the body can be interrupted, causing the organs to lose functionality. Xarelto works by preventing the clotting of blood, and because of this, bleeding cannot be stopped until the drug is completely out of the system.

It is best to calculate any side effects you have experienced from taking Xarelto and discuss them with your lawyer.

Brain Bleeds

Xarelto brain bleed lawsuits are being filed for patients who took this dangerous blood thinner medication. Xarelto (rivaroxaban), is a blood thinner used to prevent and treat clots that form in the leg, and clots that form in the lung known as pulmonary embolism. It also helps to reduce the risk of strokes in people who suffer from atrial fibrillation, a condition where the heart does not beat properly.

There have been increasing complaints about Xarelto causing brain bleeds. This is because the drug prevents clots from developing when there is an injury to a blood vessel in the brain. As a result, clots do not form to stop an existing bleed. If a blood vessel in the brain ruptures, the blood hemorrhages out in the area. Xarelto can actually further increase the risk of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Cerebral hemorrhage can occur when a blood vessel ruptures in the brain. Patients who are taking Xarelto are at greater risk of cerebral hemorrhage and are currently suing the producers of Xarelto for these dangerous outcomes.

Eye Bleeds

In June 2015, the Journal of the American Medical Association first reported findings of eye bleeds from Xarelto. It was discovered that elderly patients transitioning from the traditional blood thinner Warfarin, to Xarelto, were experiencing vitreous hemorrhaging. This is a type of bleed that occurs between the lens and the retina of the eye, and can cause pain and vision loss. Our legal team is currently investigating these new claims of severe eye bleeding to determine if additional claims will develop based on this side-effect.

Gastrointestinal Bleeding

One of the severe complications associated with the use of Xarelto is the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. Xarelto is a blood thinner that works by preventing the blood from clotting in order to reduce the risk of stroke. However, when blood cannot clot, bleeding that occurs inside the body cannot be stopped. There is no treatment for severe internal bleeding caused by Xarelto. Medical professionals must wait for the drug to leave the bloodstream before attempting to stop the bleeding.

Gastrointestinal bleeding, or GI bleeds, can be severe and life threatening. Here are some of the signs and symptoms of a GI bleed:

Blood in vomit
Vomit that resembles coffee grounds
Black or tarry stool
Dark blood in stool

Liver Damage

A 2014 JAMA study found that treatment with Xarelto’s key ingredient, Rivaroxaban, can result in severe drug-induced liver injury. The symptomatic liver damage was so severe that JAMA Internal Medicine recommended a rapid discontinuation of treatment with Xarelto and any re-exposure to the drug.

The report focused on two patient case studies. One of the patients suffered from acute liver failure within 2 months of beginning Xarelto treatment. Both patients recovered 14 days after they stopped receiving Xarelto treatment and so the authors of the study speculate that Xarelto’s main ingredient, Rivaroxaban, was the main cause of the liver injury.

While 90% of individuals will recover from acute failure, if it is not caught in a timely fashion, death or chronic issues are a possibility.

Uncontrolled Bleeding

A severe complication associated with Xarelto use is the risk of uncontrolled internal bleeding near vital organs in the body. Xarelto works by preventing the blood from clotting so as to reduce the risk of stroke, however because the blood cannot clot, the bleeding inside the body cannot be controlled. Currently, there is no treatment for the bleeding caused by Xarelto. The drug must exit the system before the bleeding will cease.

Strokes

Xarelto is frequently prescribed to individuals who suffer from atrial fibrillation as a means to reduce the risk of stroke by thinning the blood and preventing clotting, however, recent findings have suggested that the drug may actually increase the risk in some patients.

Xarelto works by reducing the generation of a necessary protein required for blood to aggregate at an injury site. This reduces the risk of an ischemic stroke, or one caused by an obstruction within a blood vessel.

However, while Xarelto works to prevent ischemic stroke, another type of stroke can be caused by Xarelto. A hemorrhagic stroke can occur when blood vessels in the brain weaken and rupture, causing blood to spill in the space between the brain and the skull. This deprives the brain of oxygen and causes a stroke. Xarelto has been shown to perpetuate the chance of hemorrhagic stroke occurrence in some individuals.

Vision Loss

Recent studies have shown that Xarelto can be responsible for vision loss in some individuals.

The condition, known as macular degeneration, was found in one study to occur in over 300 men over the age of 80 who had been taking Xarelto to treat pulmonary embolism.

Has Xarelto Been Recalled?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet issued a recall for Xarelto despite the fact that the drug has been linked to dangerous side-effects. Xarelto is still being prescribed to thousands of patients to help prevent strokes from occurring. Since the drug was fast-tracked for approval by the FDA, there remains a concern that the complete safety profile of the drug may not be entirely known.

Although Xarelto has not yet been recalled, you can still pursue a lawsuit with the help of a skilled lawyer if you or someone you care about has been harmed by the drug.

TV Commercials About Xarelto Lawsuits

What are the Criteria for Filing a Xarelto Lawsuit?

Lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Bayer Corp. over the blood thinner Xarelto have been consolidated in Louisiana federal court. Xarelto has been linked to serious side effects including internal bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, brain bleed and death.

The Xarelto lawsuits come on the heels of the recent $650 million Pradaxa settlement. Researchers linked Pradaxa, also a blood thinning medication, to more than 500 deaths.

Xarelto blood thinner litigation has been consolidated before U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon in the Eastern District of Louisiana, who presided over suits against Merck & Co. over its medication Vioxx. The Vioxx litigation resulted in a $4.85 billion settlement in 2007.

In order to file a Xarelto lawsuit with an attorney, the patient must have suffered serious hemorrhage, internal bleeding, or death as a result of blood being unable to clot due to the drug.

Lawsuit allegations include that the company:

Failed to warn the public of the risks of taking Xarelto
Failed to properly test Xarelto for dangerous side-effects
Withheld research data from the public about Xarelto dangers
Sold Xarelto even though they knew it could be dangerous
Manufactured and sold an unsafe product

Reach Out to Our Xarelto Attorneys for Legal Help

Contact our Xarelto lawyers for help filing a claim if you were harmed after taking this drug.