Pradaxa Gastrointestinal Bleeding Death Lawsuit Filed in Tennessee

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August 15, 2012 – Last week, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Tennessee on behalf of a woman who allegedly died from gastrointestinal bleeding caused by Pradaxa (generic: dabigatran). The new complaint adds to the growing number of lawsuits filed in courthouses around the country over Boehringer Ingelheim’s controversial new anticoagulant medication. The suits claim that Boehringer knew – or should have known – about Pradaxa’s potential to cause uncontrollable internal bleeding events, but that it failed to adequately warn the public and medical communities about this risk.

Pradaxa Lawsuit Update 1/6/13: Law firms involved in the federal Pradaxa multidistrict litigation (MDL) are expected to hold meetings to discuss possible settlements later this year, as the first bellwether cases are scheduled to begin in August 2014.The Pradaxa lawsuits allege that drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim failed to adequately warn the public and medical communities about the risks involved with using its controversial anticoagulant before bringing it to market, as well as about the lack of reversal agent when internal bleeding events occur in patients being treated with the drug. Click here to learn more.

Free Pradaxa Lawsuit Evaluation: If you or a loved one has been injured by Pradaxa, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a suit against the manufacturer of Pradaxa and we can help.

What’s the problem?

The lawsuit, which was filed Aug. 8 by James Lunsford in the Western District of Tennessee, alleges that his mother, Imojean Lunsford, was prescribed Pradaxa in December 2010, shortly after it was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of strokes among individuals with atrial fibrillation.

Lunsford was subsequently rushed to the hospital for gastrointestinal bleeding on March 29, 2011, and although it was promptly diagnosed, there was nothing doctors could do to control it. She underwent emergency dialysis treatment to remove Pradaxa from her blood, but doctors were unable to reverse the effects of the drug, and she died just over a week after being admitted to the hospital.

After it first gained approval from the FDA, Boehringer marketed the drug as superior to Coumadin (generic: warfarin) because it supposedly requires less patient monitoring to treat. However, if an internal bleeding event occurs in a patient being treated with Coumadin, it can be quickly counteracted with a single dose of vitamin K, whereas with Pradaxa there is no such antidote.

Lunsford’s lawsuit claims that Boehringer failed to warn about the internal bleeding risks associated with Pradaxa, as well as about the lack of reversal agent. According to the complaint, Lunsford and her doctors were unaware of these risks, and could not have possibly learned that the use of Pradaxa could expose her to excessive and uncontrollable bleeding.

The case will soon be transferred to the newly-created Pradaxa multidistrict litigation (MDL), where it will be coordinated with all other similar cases for pretrial handling. According to an order issued last week by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), all federal Pradaxa lawsuits will be centralized before Judge David R. Herndon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

While there are currently only about 50 cases pending in the Pradaxa MDL, this number is expected to rise significantly in the coming months, as the organization and structure of the litigation is established. Herndon is expected to handle all pretrial proceedings, as well as any bellwether trials that may be implemented to determine how future juries are likely to react to the evidence. However, if a settlement cannot be reached or if the cases go otherwise unresolved, the lawsuits may be remanded to their original jurisdictions where they will be scheduled for individual trials.

Do I Have a Pradaxa Lawsuit?

The Product Liability & Defective Drug Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in Pradaxa lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new injury and death cases in all 50 states.

Free Pradaxa Lawsuit Evaluation: If you or a loved one suffered a serious injury after being treated with Pradaxa, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a Pradaxa injury suit and we can help.