What is Xarelto?
Xarelto is an anticoagulant, or blood thinning medication, which is manufactured by Bayer. It is marketed and distributed by Janssen, who is a subsidiary of the massive Johnson & Johnson company. It is one of very few alternatives to the more popular blood thinning medication, Coumadin, which is distributed under the name of Warfarin.
People take blood thinning medications like Xarelto to reduce the risk of developing blood clots, which are linked to increased risk of stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and more.
Adverse Reaction Lawsuits
Currently, there are over 18,000 lawsuits pending which have cited severe adverse reactions when taking Xarelto.
A few of these are:
- Unexpected bleeding
- Stroke
- Poor wound healing
- Paralysis
- Bowel or bladder dysfunction
- Damage to the nervous system
- Jaundice
These are just a few in a lengthy list of cited side effects. The incidence of stroke in patients taking Xarelto is our primary objective here today, however.
How Can Xarelto Cause Patients to Have A Stroke?
It would seem ironic that this medication would cause a stroke when you consider that is often prescribed to patients to reduce this risk. This leads us to the question of how this risk occurs.
While there are a few theories on this matter, the scary fact is there is no solid evidence as to what causes the strokes. This is because it appears to cause two distinct types of strokes, and no two cases have been presented in exactly the same way. Soon the cause will be determined, but until then, patients taking the medication must play a game of wait and see.
The two types of strokes seek in patients taking Xarelto are Ischemic, and hemorrhagic. Ischemic strokes occur when there is an obstruction (such as a blood clot) that prevents proper blood flow to the brain. This obstruction takes place in the blood vessels flowing into the brain (not those flowing out).
A hemorrhagic stroke is quite different. It occurs when there is bleeding within the brain itself. This means there is a supply of blood flowing in, but it is either not adequately flowing out or else is “leaking” somewhere.
Nothing Can Be Done…
The scariest news yet for those taking Xarelto is that there is absolutely nothing medical professionals can do if a stroke occurs from use of this drug.
For starters, this drug is used to reduce the risk of stroke and aids in the treatment of them. If a person taking it has a stroke, they can’t be given more of the same thing that caused it.
The second problem is there is no “antidote,” or thing which will reverse the blood clotting effects of the medication. For example, if a person taking Warfarin sustains an injury they can be given potassium to reverse the effects so that their blood will begin to clot normally once more.
Xarelto Lawsuits
In November of 2017 there were already over 19,000 pending lawsuits filed from individuals claiming they were injured or that a loved one died after taking this blood thinning medication. This does not count the hundreds of lawsuits which were filed at the state level versus as multi-district litigation.
