The first of four bellwether trials in the Xarelto® (rivaroxaban) multidistrict litigation in Louisiana Federal Court is currently underway. Plaintiff Joseph Boudreaux, 74, of Lockport, La., alleges that he developed gastrointestinal bleeding after he began taking Xarelto in 2014, requiring hospitalization, numerous blood transfusions and other serious treatments.
As previously reported in this blog, this litigation involves hundreds of lawsuits from across the country alleging that individuals taking Xarelto® suffered severe or fatal bleeding or other injuries. “Bellwether cases” are trials of selected representative Xarelto® internal bleeding cases. (Pursuant to the 12/14/14 order from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, certain cases were transferred and consolidated in multidistrict litigation [an “MDL”] in the Eastern District of Louisiana and assigned to the Honorable Eldon E. Fallon for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with the actions already pending there. The MDL is referred to as: “MDL No. 2592, In re: Xarelto [Rivaroxaban] Products Liability Litigation.”)
Judge Fallon previously issued Case Management Order No. 5, in which the Court ordered that the trial of the first Xarelto® bellwether case will be a case in which the “Plaintiff took Xarelto® in order to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism due to nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and alleges a gastrointestinal bleed or death due to a gastrointestinal bleed and was between the ages of 50 and 90 at the date of the alleged event.”
The trial of the second bellwether case will where the “Plaintiff took Xarelto® in order to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism due to nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and alleges a brain bleed/hemorrhagic stroke or death due to a brain bleed/hemorrhagic stroke and was between the ages of 50 and 90 at the date of the alleged event.”
The trial of the third bellwether case will involve a plaintiff who “took Xarelto® to treat deep vein thrombosis (DVT), to treat pulmonary embolism (PE) and/or to reduce the risk of recurrence of DVT or PE and alleges a gastrointestinal bleed or death due to a gastrointestinal bleed and was between the ages of 40 and 80 at the date of the alleged event.”
The trial of the fourth bellwether case will involve a plaintiff who “took Xarelto® in order to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism due to nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and alleges a gastrointestinal bleed or death due to a gastrointestinal bleed and was between the ages of 50 and 90 at the date of the alleged event.”
The Court’s website for the Xarelto MDL is available by clicking here. The Court’s website provides information about the litigation including current developments, pretrial orders, orders, minute entries, a calendar, and transcripts. Case developments are updated regularly on the Court’s website. Numerous lawsuits continue to be filed.
Attorney Pamela A. Borgess, the founder of Borgess Law, LLC, is an experienced trial attorney who focuses on civil litigation, including defective medical drugs/devices cases. For more information about the Xarelto lawsuits or to discuss a potential claim, contact Borgess Law at (567) 455-5955 or toll-free at (844) LAW-9144. You can also contact Borgess Law by submitting an online inquiry. Borgess Law never charges for initial consultations.