The Legal Examiner Affiliate Network The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner search instagram avvo phone envelope checkmark mail-reply spinner error close The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner
Skip to main content

Far too often, our Virginia personal injury law firm has brought our readers information about dangerous drugs which are on the market despite the serious side effects they can cause. One of those drugs we’ve written about is Xarelto, a drug which is prescribed to help prevent blood clots. Xarelto is produced by Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals and has been on the market since July 2011. The drug was supposed to be a better alternative to other blood thinning medication which doctors had been prescribing for decades.

However, in October 2012, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) published a report describing a number of disturbing reports of issues with Xarelto. At that time, there were at least 356 adverse effects which had been reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just in the first four months of 2012 alone. According to the complaints filed, instead of preventing blood clots, the drug appears to increase patients’ risk of clots, especially those patients under the age of 66. There is also a marked risk of internal bleeding and infections.

To date, there are currently more than 11,000 Xarelto lawsuits pending in the United States. Plaintiffs allege that Johnson & Johnson failed to warn physicians and patients about the risks associated with the drug. Many of the lawsuits question whether or not the company rushed the drug on the market without performing adequate testing. Xarelto not only increases the risk of internal bleeding, the manufacturer has failed to develop an antidote to reverse the bleeding. This has led to thousands of injuries and also some fatalities.

Drug Companies Paying Physicians

As part of their marketing campaign, many drug companies give payments to physicians under the guise of promotional speaking fees, consulting fees, travel costs, meals, gifts, and royalties. The non-profit organization ProPublica has conducted studies which show that physicians who receive payments from drug companies are more than likely to prescribe those brand-name drugs than physicians who do not receive payments.

ProPublica’s latest report reveals that, in 2014 and 2015, approximately $2 billion was given to more than 600,000 doctors and another $600 million for each year was given to teaching hospitals. And of those billions of dollars paid to the medical community, more payments were made to physicians for Xarelto than for any other drug.

Have You Suffered Injuries from a Dangerous Drug?

If you have suffered and adverse reaction or side effect from Xarelto or any other dangerous drug, consult with a skilled Virginia dangerous drug attorney to find out what legal recourse you may have against the drug manufacturer and/or physician who prescribed the drug.

Comments for this article are closed.