Product Liability Lawyer Blog
Philadelphia flyers Defenseman, Kimmo Timonen hopes to recover from a serious clotting disorder to a point, which will allow him to get back on the ice. According to a recent news article from Courier-Post, Timonen has been unable to play this season after being diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs and legs.
As part of his treatment for his serious clotting disorder, Timonen has been taking Xarelto. Xarelto is a member of a class of drugs known as New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs). NOACs are a newer alternative to traditional blood thinners such as Warfarin. Those with clotting disease are at a high risk for stroke if one of the clots breaks free from a vein and block an artery providing blood to patient’s brain. Clots can also travel to patient’s lungs and tear a hole known as a pulmonary embolism (PE). Both of these can result in serious personal injury or death.
One advantage touted by makers of Xarelto is patients are not required to have frequent blood tests, and closely monitor their diets to keep their dosage in check. If Warfarin is administered in an incorrect dosage, it can cause life-threatening side effects. Doctors will use results of frequent blood tests to adjust a patient’s dosage from time to time.
Xarelto on the other hand, is said to be equally effective without need for constant monitoring. As for Timonen, he hopes to return to NHL games in the near future while continuing to take medication to treat his leg clotting. Team officials are not sure how soon he will be allowed to play. Timonen says he doesn’t like to spend time with his team as he is afraid to get his hopes up, but is guardedly optimistic he will be able to return to the Fliers and continue his promising career.
While our Boston Xarelto injury attorneys wish the best for Timonen, and all patients on Xarelto, we know some are not so fortunate. One major danger associated with Xarelto is it can cause a serious internal bleeding condition, including intracranial bleeding. We also know there is currently no FDA approved treatment to reduce these serious bleeding conditions.
If a patient develops these serious side effects and goes to an emergency room, there is little doctors can do except transfuse blood and manage pain. It should be noted another drug company is performing human trials on an antidote for Xarelto and other NAOCs, but FDA has not yet approved this medication for patients not in a drug study.
What makes matters worse is we now have reason to believe makers of Xarelto and other NAOCs knew of these serous risks and chose to hide them from doctors and prospective patients as well as FDA. This is not only ethically troubling, but also failure to adequately warn of known danger is one of the typical claims filed in a defective drug lawsuit. Manufacture of a defective drug is the other claim typically filed.
Call the Boston Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.
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