The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML”),
sitting in Charleston, South Carolina, will hear arguments today for and
against the consolidation of Xarelto lawsuits. Lawyers for those injured by
Xarelto are arguing for a Xarelto MDL, while Bayer and Johnson & Johnson,
the manufacturers of Xarelto, are fighting consolidation.
Patients who took Xarelto, a blood-thinning drug, accuse the drugmakers of downplaying
the medicine’s bleeding risks and asked that the cases be sent to U.S District
Judge David Herndon in East St. Louis, Illinois. Judge Herndon is the same
judge who is presiding over the Pradaxa MDL, which settled earlier this year.
That settlement is estimated to reach $650 million.
Bayer’s lawyers are arguing that should an MDL be formed over
their objections, that the cases be
consolidated in New Jersey under U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson. Judge
Wolfson is located in Trenton and is already presiding over two Xarelto case. Another
argument for consolidation in New Jersey is that it is located near corporate
headquarters.
In court filings, it is claimed that 65 deaths have been
linked to bleeding caused by the drug, which has no antidote. So far, there are
21 cases filed in 10 federal courts.
As I have posted many times on
this blog, MDL’s are a great mechanism for consolidating cases and can save
time and money on pretrial discovery, depositions and dispositive motions.
U.S. regulators originally approved Xarelto in 2011 to
prevent blood clots in patients undergoing knee and hip surgeries. The drug’s
use has been extended to patients with irregular heartbeats and potentially
deadly leg and lung blood clots. It is similar to Coumadin, or warfarin, used
to thin stroke victims’ blood for nearly 50 years. Xarelto was marketed as more effective at preventing
strokes than Coumadin and easier to use since Xarelto
patients did not need frequent tests to monitor their blood-plasma levels.
In court filings, Xarelto patients argue the companies
did not properly test the blood thinner before putting it on the market, hid
the fact the medicine had no antidote, and overstated the drug’s effectiveness.
The case is Xarelto Products
Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592, U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict
Litigation. A decision by the JPML will be issued in the coming weeks.
Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C., is currently
investigating Xarelto cases. If you or a loved one were prescribed Xarelto and
suffered an irreversible internal bleeding that lead to hospitalization and/or
death, contact Booth Samuels at toll free 1-866-515-8880 or by email at booths@pittmanudutton.com.
