Xarelto Class Action Lawsuit Filed in Canada Over Bleeding Problems

As a growing number of Xarelto lawsuits continue to be filed on behalf individuals throughout the United States, Bayer Healthcare now faces a class action lawsuit in Canada over bleeding problems associated with the controversial anticoagulant.

The Xarelto class action was filed recently in Calgary by Betty Samson, and it appears that a similar claim will soon be filed in the province of Ontario. The complaint seeks to include claims for Canadians who have suffered uncontrollable bleeding that was allegedly caused by side effects of Xarelto.

According to the complaint, Samson went into cardiac arrest when doctors were not able to quickly control bleeding associated with Xarelto use. The complaint indicates that Health Canada has received at least 1,100 adverse event reports linked to Xarelto, which is designed to reduce the risk of blood clots.

Xarelto Litigation the United States

The lawsuit raises similar claims to those brought in the United States, where more than 220 product liability cases have already been filed against Bayer and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen subsidiary throughout the federal court system.

Since December 2014, complaints filed in U.S. District Courts nationwide have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings as part of a multidistrict litigation, or MDL. While the MDL proceedings are similar to a class action for Xarelto, each of the lawsuits remains an individual claim where plaintiffs must establish damages caused by the drug makers’ failure to warn.

All of the U.S. complaints are centralized before U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon in the Eastern District of Louisiana to reduce duplicative discovery into common issues, avoid conflicting pretrial rulings from different judges and to serve the convenience of the parties, witnesses and the courts. However, each claim will ultimately go before an individual jury if the cases do not settle.

As part of the MDL process, it is expected that a small group of cases will be scheduled for early trial dates to help the parties gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that is likely to be repeated throughout the U.S. litigation, potentially influencing eventual Xarelto settlement talks.

Judge Fallon has scheduled a status conference in the MDL for later this week.

Xarelto Bleeding Risks

Xarelto (rivaroxoaban) is a new-generation anticoagulant introduced in 2011 as a superior replacement for Coumadin (warfarin), which has been the “go-to” medication for prevention of blood clots and strokes among patients with atrial fibrillation for decades.

While all blood thinners carry a risk of bleeding injury, Xarelto has been linked to a surprising number of problems as more and more patients are switched to the novel anticoagulant.

Xarelto has been promoted as superior to warfarin, with the drug makers indicating that it is easier to use, since it does not require regular blood monitoring. However, several recent studies have raised questions about those claims, with researchers suggesting that Xarelto blood monitoring may actually help doctors identify patients at the greatest risk of bleeding.

In addition to failing to warn about the risk of bleeding and importance of blood monitoring, plaintiffs claim that drug makers withheld information about the lack of a Xarelto reversal agent, which doctors could use to stop hemorrhaging that may develop among users.

While warfarin’s blooding thinning effects can be quickly reversed in an emergency, there is no antidote for Xarelto currently available. This has left many doctors unable to control bleeds, increasing the risk of severe injury or death.