Xarelto Wrongful Death Claims: Will Families Find Justice?

Unfortunately, the severe injuries that Xarelto is linked to can lead to death. Many Xarelto patients who experienced severe internal bleeding have lost their lives to the dangerous complications associated with this drug. Some families may have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Bayer and Johnson & Johnson, the drug’s manufacturers, pursuing valuable compensation in the wake of tragedy.

Wrongful Death Lawsuits

To date, hundreds of wrongful death lawsuits have been filed in the growing Xarelto litigation, which is currently proceeding as a consolidated action in a Louisiana federal court.  While state laws vary, these wrongful death lawsuits are usually filed by a surviving spouse or family member. In most jurisdictions, a separate claim for compensation can be filed on behalf of the decedent’s estate.

As we suggested above, each state has its own law on wrongful death litigation. Some jurisdictions allow surviving loved ones to pursue damages for their own emotional trauma, while others limit the compensation available to family members to purely financial losses.

Damages & Compensation

Disregarding these differences in state law, the vast majority of plaintiff families will be eligible to demand the following types of compensation:

• medical expenses that occurred during the treatment of the deceased
• funeral and burial expenses
• loss of wage earnings and financial support while the deceased was in treatment
• future earning losses due to their death
• lost household support
• loss of love, companionship and company

Always check with your own state laws to stay informed on which forms of compensation apply in your case.

Hundreds Of Deaths Linked To Xarelto

Since Xarelto was approved, several studies have been released showing the link between Xarelto and serious side effects, mainly uncontrollable internal bleeding, that can cause death.

FDA Finds High Death Rate After Xarelto Complications

In 2013, the FDA worked with a company that specialized in analyzing adverse medical events to release a report on the adverse events related to Xarelto.  The study analyzed over 2,100 reports of adverse events regarding the blood thinner.  1,821 of these cases cited Xarelto as the main cause of the adverse event they experienced.  The top four side effects linked to Xarelto included:

• pulmonary embolism,
• deep vein thrombosis,
• gastrointestinal bleeds and
• hemorrhages.

Some of these conditions can be very difficult to detect until they pose a serious health threat, and for this reason unfortunately 891 of the cases in this study required hospitalization and 183 cases resulted in the death of the patient.

Internal Bleeding Leads To Death In Bayer-Funded Study

In January of 2015, Baylor College of Medicine in Texas performed a study funded by Bayer Healthcare and Janssen.  The results of the study claimed that there was a risk of serious bleeding associated with Xarelto.  The study noted that the results of this study were similar to the clinical studies that were referenced in Xarelto’s approval.

The study analyzed the health of 27,467 of the patients who were taking Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) between January 2013 and March 2014.  The study found that out of these patients, 478 individuals suffered from a major bleeding event and 14 individuals taking Xarelto died from the internal bleeding.  The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Cardiology.

Safety Risks Trouble Dutch Researchers

The doctors at Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands also performed a study on blood thinners in the same class as Xarelto, including Xarelto itself and Pradaxa.  The goal of the study was to analyze the risk of gastrointestinal bleeds while taking these new blood thinners compared to the standard anticoagulants such as warfarin.

In the case of Xarelto, the doctors found that its usage carried an increased risk of internal bleeding almost 1.5 times higher than warfarin carried.  These researchers analyzed many blood thinners during this study and were very troubled by the fact that the drugs in the Xa inhibitor class, including Xarelto, lacked an antidote.

Continue Reading: Xarelto Recalls & FDA Warnings