Product Liability Lawyer Blog
While Bayer AG, the German pharmaceutical giant, has seen a recent increase in quarter-over-quarter profits, sales numbers for their bestselling drug, Xarelto, have actually dropped this past quarter for the first time since the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it for market.
Xarelto is a member of a class of drugs known as New Oral Anticogulants (NOACs) and, despite what drug makers claim, has been marketed as a replacement for Warfarin (Coumadin) for patients suffering from a serious medical condition known as atrial fibrillation (Afib). Afib is a serious heart condition, which can cause a patient to have a stroke or other serious clotting disorder. Due to Afib, patients must take either a blood thinner or other anticoagulant to prevent clots from forming. Not only can these clots block an artery causing heart failure or stroke, they can break free from the deep veins in which they formed and travel through the patient’s circulatory system to the lungs. If they puncture a hole in a patient’s lung, it leads to a serious medical condition known as a pulmonary embolism, which often results in death of a patient.
According to a recent article from Bloomberg, Bayer AG and industry insiders see competition from Pfizer and its competing NOAC, Eliquis, as playing a large role in the drop in Xarelto sales. However, as our Boston Xarelto injury attorneys can explain, there is not only more competition from Eliquis, and also Pradaxa, but the general public and prescribing physicians are now much more aware of the potentially deadly side effects from all three of these drugs.
Xarelto, Eliquis, and Pradaxa have all been shown to cause serious and uncontrollable internal bleeding disorders, including intracranial bleeding (bleeding in the brain) in some patients who take these drugs. There is no apparent warning as to which patients will suffer these reactions and no FDA-approved way to stop the bleeding or reverse the effects. Of the thousands who have experienced internal bleeding or clotting disorders caused by Xarelto and its classmates, over 60 have died and many more have suffered serious personal injury.
While there is a cure, properly called an antidote, for these three NOACs, it is still in the experimental stage and not available at emergency rooms across the nation, unless they are among the relatively few sites participating in a clinical trial.
With these significant risks associated with Xarelto, doctors are less willing to prescribe it over Warfarin, which is known to be both safe and effective as long as the dosage is constantly monitored. In order to properly monitor a patient’s dose of Warfarin, it is necessary for patients to undergo frequent blood tests and avoid certain foods, which may affect the absorption rate of Warfarin. If a patient fails to watch his or her diet and have the blood tests, a wrong dosage can result in serious bleeding disorders.
It was the freedom to take Xarelto, with its one size fits all dosing and no need for frequent blood tests, which made the drug appealing in the first place.
If you are the victim of Massachusetts product liability due to taking Xarelto, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
Bayer Boosts Forecast on Currencies as Xarelto Disappoints , Apr. 30, 2015, Bloomberg
More Blog Entries:
Risk for Internal Bleeding after Taking Pradaxa, August 22, 2014, Boston Dangerous Drugs Injury Lawyer Blog