When you go to a doctor to receive treatment for a serious health concern—such as a stroke or deep vein thrombosis (blood clots located deep in the body)—you trust him or her to provide the best possible care and to fully inform you of all risks involved.
But if you or a loved one suffered internal bleeding as a result of taking the blood thinner Xarelto you may feel as if your trust in the medical process and your human rights has been violated.
You're not alone: According to the Wall Street Journal, more than a handful of lawsuits have already been filed against Xarelto’s manufacturer. As many as 350 "serious, disabling or fatal" injuries resulting from the drug were reported to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 2012 alone.
So what should you do if you or a loved one suffered similar injuries?
- Contact your doctor or a medical professional you can trust immediately. Your health and safety should always be a priority.
- Compile your records: text messages, receipts, calendar notes, phone calls—anything that will help you create a solid timeline of your symptoms and general experiences taking the medicine.
- Research Xarelto by looking at ingredients, listed side effects, clinical trials, and pending lawsuits. Make sure to do this after you create a record of your symptoms, since you could psychologically convince yourself that you've experienced symptoms that you actually haven't.
- Talk to a qualified attorney about your rights and what actions you should take based on your unique situation.
Since there is a surplus of information out there about Xarelto, our goal is to translate the technical jargon and cut out the irrelevant details. Over the next few weeks, we will be publishing a series of blog posts to provide the information you need to defend yourself and make well-informed choices about medical care.
Here’s a brief overview of what we’ll cover:
Section I: The Facts about Xarelto
Most resources introduce this drug by bogging you down with information about its chemical components, but our approach will narrow it down to need-to-know facts. We will explain what Xarelto is designed to treat, how it works, how it has been tested, and why it came to be prescribed to such a broad audience. This section will also describe how and why this medication has caused so many unwanted side-effects, and how organizations like the FDA are responding to these cases.
Section II: Legal Considerations
In this section, we will report on the current legal actions taken against Janssen Pharmaceutical (the manufacturer of Xarelto) and their co-marketer, Bayer Healthcare. Then, we'll briefly explain how these kinds of class action lawsuits usually unfold and what you should do as a plaintiff. Finally, we’ll review your options regarding how you can seek justice and compensation.
This information is in no way intended as a substitute for authorial, in-person medical or legal advice.
Again, we encourage those who have experienced symptoms possibly related to taking Xarelto to contact a medical professional first and foremost. Following this step, our knowledgeable legal team can advise you on how to take legal action and obtain compensation for internal bleeding, blood clots, decreased hemoglobin, dyspnea, hematoma, and other difficulties experienced as a direct result of taking this medication.
For more information regarding the harm of Xarelto use to download a copy of our free E-book, The Xarelto Disaster: How Johnson & Johnson Failed to Warn Consumers of Deadly Internal Bleeding Risks or call us at 1-855-423-3666 to discuss your particular issue with Xarelto.