The son of a Georgia man filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana early this year, against Xarelto. The man passed away from complications due to an internal bleeding incident. The plaintiff, a resident of Tennessee, is alleging that his father’s death was caused by an uncontrollable internal bleeding incident that is directly linked to his father’s use of Xarelto. The complaint goes on to outline that the plaintiff’s father began taking Xarelto in September 2012, for a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. The use of Xarelto continued until his death in March of 2013. It is also stated in the complaint that the father would not have taken Xarelto if he and his son were fully aware of the real risks that the drug presented. Had the risks been known, the complaint alleges that the deceased would have opted for a much safer alternative than the drug.
What is Xarelto?
Xarelto is one drug in a new class of blood thinners called Xa inhibitors. Xa inhibitors do not work in the same way as traditional blood thinners; they block the chemical in the blood responsible for making the blood clot, thrombin. By blocking thrombin, Xarelto completely takes away the blood’s ability to clot. This can be extremely dangerous because there is currently no antidote for Xarelto’s anticoagulant effects. Because of this, if a patient taking Xarelto has an internal bleeding injury, there is no way to stop the bleeding. This situation is contrasted with patients taking traditional blood thinners containing Warfarin. If a patient taking Warfarin experiences an internal bleeding injury, a doctor can simply administer Vitamin K and the patient’s blood will clot. Most lawsuits filed against Xarelto allege that the manufacturers of the drug had prior knowledge of the true dangers of the drug, yet proceeded to release the drug onto the market anyway.
What is a Wrongful Death Suit?
Georgia state law defines a wrongful death suit as the death of one person caused by the ‘negligent, reckless, intentional, or criminal’ acts of another person or entity. Negligence is generally defined as a failure to use reasonable care when there is a duty to do so, resulting in harm to another. Wrongful death claims are similar to most personal injury claims, as negligence must also be proven in many types of personal injury claims. Often times, personal injury suits and wrongful death suits are based on similar events such as a car accident or a faulty product. The difference in a wrongful death claim is that the injured person is not available to bring the case to court, and thus the case must be brought by the deceased person’s family members or a personal representative of the deceased person’s estate.
Contact Goldstein Hayes & Lina, LLC
Wrongful death suits can be brought against a wide number of persons, companies, government agencies, and employees, depending on the nature of the incident that was involved with the wrongful death. If you believe one of your family members was the victim of a wrongful death, contact Goldstein Hayes & Lina, LLC today. They are experienced personal injury and wrongful death attorneys who can help you with your case today.