All pending and future federal Pradaxa lawsuits have been consolidated to one central court, which will expedite litigation for bleeding victims. On August 8, 2012, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) entered an order centralizing these lawsuits in the Southern District of Illinois with the Honorable Judge David R. Herndon presiding. According to the Transfer Order, consolidation was appropriate because the cases “share common factual questions” stemming from allegations that plaintiffs suffered severe bleeding episodes or other serious injuries as a result of taking the blood thinner Pradaxa.
The Pradaxa lawsuits are alleging that the defendants, Boehringer Ingelheim, et al., did not properly warn doctors about the risks of Pradaxa, including the potential for
life-threatening bleeding, and that there is no antidote for the drug’s anti-clotting effects. While all blood thinners pose a risk of serious and even fatal bleeding, the suits claim that because the drug has no reversal agent, surgeons, ER doctors and other medical professionals are left without an effective way to treat and stabilize patients who experience uncontrolled bleeding on the drug. The suits are calling Pradaxa’s lack of an antidote a dramatic departure from all other blood thinners.
In Dec. 2011, only 14 months after Pradaxa had been on the market, the FDA announced that it would be evaluating post-marketing reports of serious and sometimes fatal
bleeding in Pradaxa users. The agency said it would be looking to determine whether these reports are occurring more frequently than should be expected. According to the agency, a large clinical trial revealed that when comparing Pradaxa and decades-old Coumadin, major bleeding events occurred at similar rates. Coumadin, however, has an antidote in Vitamin K, while no such reversal agent exists for Pradaxa, leaving users at risk for uncontrollable bleeding.
If you or a loved one suffered a serious bleeding event, such as a cerebral hemorrhage, while taking Pradaxa, it’s not too late to make a claim for monetary damages. To have your eligibility for a Pradaxa lawsuit evaluated, at no cost to you, please visit
http://www.classaction.org/pradaxa.html and fill out the ‘Report a Complaint’ form on the right. The attorneys working with the site are offering this online consultation at no cost and with no obligation.
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