Xarelto Outlier Case Transferred into Multidistrict Litigation
On December 2, 2015, Philadelphia Judge Arnold New ordered the case Mothena v. Janssen Research & Development to be transferred to the Xarelto multidistrict litigation pending in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Mothena is different from the majority of plaintiff claims in the Xarelto MDL, which allege that the drug causes excessive bleeding, because David Mothena is claiming that the drug does not protect against blood clots for the advertised 24-hour period.
Xarelto is the second-most popular blood thinning medication in the country and is promoted as a convenient once-daily blood thinner that required minimal adjustments and blood monitoring. On October 8, 2015, David Mothena filed a suit in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas alleging
Xarelto does not stay active for a full 24-hours as marketed, leaving patients without protection from blood clots for periods of time. Mothena contended that as a result of the deficiencies in Xarelto’s dosages, he suffered an ischemic stroke.
On October 26, 2015, defendant Janssen moved to have Mothena’s case transferred to federal court, asserting that both Mothena’s claims and claims alleged in the MDL involve severe injuries caused by the use of Xarelto and the marketing of the medication. Mothena countered on November 2, 2015, arguing that the similarities between his complaint and the claims made by plaintiffs in the Xarelto MDL were superficial. The majority of plaintiffs in the consolidated litigation allege that Xarelto causes uncontrollable bleeding as the drug, unlike rival blood thinner Coumadin, has no antidote. The reasoning behind Judge New’s order transferring the case was not indicated.
The first four bellwether trials in the Xarelto MDL will take place on February 6, 2017.
The case is: In re: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, No. 2592
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