Xarelto May Have Adverse Effects

Some individuals have suffered life-threatening and potentially life-threatening complications while taking the popular anticoagulant Xarelto. If the use of Xarelto has posed a serious threat to your wellbeing, legal options exist that may allow you to seek compensation.  

What Is Xarelto? 

Xarelto is the name under which the anticoagulant Rivaroxaban is marketed in the United States. The drug is manufactured by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer, which made earned more than a billion dollars from its sales in 2013.

Xarelto and other anticoagulant medications are routinely prescribed to individuals who are at risk for blood clots. Blood clots are associated with higher incidences of conditions like strokes, transient ischemic attacks, myocardial infarctions, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli. Unlike the popular anticoagulant warfarin, patients on Xarelto aren’t required to undergo periodic lab tests to determine how much of the medication is in their blood.

 

Xarelto’s Mechanism of Action 

Whereas the popular anticoagulant warfarin acts by blocking the utilization of vitamin k, Xarelto works by indirectly inhibiting thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. As such, there is no antidote for bleeding episodes that may be caused by excess blood levels of Xarelto. Serious bleeding caused by Warfarin can be reversed by the administration of vitamin k, but excessive bleeding caused by Xarelto is much harder to manage. It can take as long as 24 hours to flush Xarelto out of the body. 

The Side Effects of Xarelto 

People who take Xarelto are prone to bruising easily and may be affected by other side effects such as itching, numbness and muscle pain. By far the most potentially dangerous adverse effect linked to Xarelto, however, is uncontrollable bleeding. When bleeding events occur internally in areas like the gastrointestinal tract, people may not even be aware they’re happening until a considerable amount of time has passed.

 

Litigation Associated with Xarelto 

According to the Institute for Safe Medicine Practices, more than 3,300 people were affected adversely by their use of Xarelto in 2014. In June of that same year, the first lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Xarelto patient who died as a result of a bleeding episode. Since that time, approximately 3,000 more lawsuits have been filed. These lawsuits allege that Xarelto’s labeling doesn’t warn the public adequately about the potential dangers of taking the medication.

In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a Black Box warning to Xarelto packaging; however this warning focuses on the medication’s possible implication in epidural and spinal hematomas. The black box warning does not mention other types of bleeding episodes associated with Xarelto. If you’ve experienced a potentially life-threatening effect associated with your use of Xarelto, an experienced attorney may be able to help you protect your rights.