Xarelto injury

March 25, 2016

Did Xarelto Makers Fail to Disclose Data?

A recent feature from CBS News examined whether Johnson & Johnson and Bayer, the makers of Xarelto, knowingly withheld certain important data for a letter to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The specific claim made by lawyers for Xarelto plaintiffs in the multi-district litigation (MDL) class action lawsuit is that the defendants purposely withheld information from results published involving a Duke University analysis of drug trial results. This information relates to a blood testing device that was not functioning property. The device was being used to test patients who were on Warfarin (Coumadin), which is the traditional alternative to Xarelto. Continue reading

March 1, 2016

FDA Questions Whether Xarelto Should Have Been Approved

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news feature from the New York Times, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now conducting an investigation into whether a blood testing device used during clinical trials, which we now know to be defective, led to an approval of Xarelto that never should have happened.

Xarelto is a member of new class of drugs known as new oral anticoagulants (NOACs), which are being prescribed to treat patients with a serious medical condition known as atrial fibrillation. A person with this disease has an irregular heartbeat not caused by a valve defect that can cause large blood clots to form deep in a patient’s veins. The clots can break free in a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and travel through the patient’s circulatory system, where they can rupture in the lungs in what is known as a pulmonary embolism (PE), or they can block the flow of blood to the brain causing a stroke. Continue reading

August 31, 2015

Xarelto and Eliquis Makers Fighting for Market Share Despite Safety Risks

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Xarelto, Eliquis, Pradaxa, and the newly-marketed Savaysa are all members of a class of drugs known as New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs). They are all advertised as a safer and easier to use alternative to Warfarin (Coumadin), which has been the long-standing drug prescribed to patients who suffer from an irregular heartbeat condition known as atrial fibrillation (Afib).

Afib patients require either a blood thinner like Warfarin or an oral anticoagulant like Xarelto to decrease the risk they will develop a serious clotting disorder. If patient develops clots deep within the veins of his or her legs, which is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the clots can break loose and travel to the lungs, where they can puncture the tissue, causing a potentially deadly condition known as pulmonary embolism (PE). The clots can also block blood flow to the brain, which results in a stroke. Continue reading