Xarelto Bellwether Trials to Begin in 2017

Dates have been selected for the first Xarelto multidistrict litigation hearings.

Pretrial discovery and bellwether trial selection for the Xarelto multidistrict litigation (MDL) has begun.  The first trials will consist of a selection of four cases, from a pool of forty, that have been considered to represent the majority of the cases filed around the nation. The first of the selected cases is scheduled to convene in February, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Bayer Healthcare and Janssen Pharmaceuticals have marketed Xarelto as a more convenient alternative to Coumadin (warfarin), the previous industry standard for blood clot treatment and prevention. However, reports indicate that Xarelto has surpassed anticoagulant market competitors in the number of serious adverse health events associated with the drug.

As a result of these serious adverse events, more than 2,200 cases have been filed claiming that Janssen, the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, was negligent in providing accurate information about the serious side effects of the drug, and that patients and their families were not adequately warned of the medication’s risks. Attorneys have speculated that hundreds of additional Xarelto cases may be filed before the 2017 trials begin.