Xarelto is one member of a new family of anti-coagulant, or blood-thinner, drugs known as New Oral Anti-Coagulants (NOACs) which were marketed by promising increased convenience and freedom for patients. However, the tragic reality is that this medication has been linked to serious and even life-threatening side-effects, and thousands of patients are at risk.
Xarelto is a prescription medication that was originally approved by the FDA in 2011 to prevent blood clots in patients that recently underwent knee or hip replacement surgery. Xarelto was designed to treat up to six different medical conditions that affect the way the body heals and prevents bleeding. Rivaroxaban, the active ingredient in Xarelto, can help reduce a patient’s risk of suffering from:
Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals and the Bayer Corporation first developed Xarelto as an alternative to older blood-thinners that required patients to take monthly blood tests. Xarelto treated the same types of medical conditions but promised patients that they would no longer have to undergo this type of monthly monitoring. However, new information has concluded that there is no data to support Xarelto’s claim that patients would no longer require monthly blood tests. In fact, thousands of patients taking Xarelto have been seriously or even fatally harmed by this medication after dangerous side-effects were left unchecked by their doctors. Xarelto has been linked to several serious or even fatal, side effects that have no known antidote or treatment options.
Potential side effects include:
In 2012, Xarelto received a Black Box warning from the Food and Drug Administration. These types of warning labels are reserved only for medications that pose a significant risk of serious or life-threatening side effects for patients. Despite the strong link between Xarelto and uncontrollable bleeding, the drug remained on the market and has placed thousands of patients at risk. The pharmaceutical companies responsible for manufacturing and marketing Xarelto are now facing numerous liability claims alleging that they did not properly warn the public of the associated risks of taking their medication. Hundreds of patients continue to come forward to seek damages, claiming that they were seriously harmed by the medication and were not made fully aware of the potential side-effects.
