Xarelto Trial: Defense Wins Again in Mingo vs. Bayer AG and Janssen R&D in Third Trial Loss for

Posted on August 18th, 2017

(Dora Mingo vs. Janssen Research & Development, LLC et al., Case No. 2:15-cv-03469)

This is the third trial verdict for defense in the Xarelto MDL 2592 bellwether trials, the verdict was returned in favor of the defendants not long after after closing arguments completed on August 18, 2017. The case involves Dora Mingo, a resident of Mississippi, who claimed that Xarelto which was prescribed as a blood-thinner drug for treatment of a blood clot in her leg, caused her to suffer internal bleeding and anemia.

In previous back-to-back federal bellwether trials, juries have cleared the manufacturers of Xarelto of liability relating to claims that the drug caused internal bleeding, which plaintiff attorneys allege led to severe injuries or deaths in patients who used it.

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xarelto in 2011 for prescription to patients suffering from a rhythmic heart disorder called atrial fibrillation and to prevent blood clots which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and pulmonary embolisms.

Plaintiffs and their counsel charge Xarelto’s manufacturers with failing to properly warn patients that Xarelto use presented increased risks for cranial and gastrointestinal bleeding when taken once daily and not properly monitored. Plaintiff also asserted a Prothrombin Time (PT) test, used to assess a patient for bleeding risks, was something Xarelto’s manufacturers didn’t inform and instruct doctors about. However, counsel for Xarelto’s manufacturers countered that the PT test isn’t scientifically reliable in their view.

For more information about this trial read this article by the National Law Journal.