A Louisiana woman who took the prescription drug Xarelto is suing the drug’s manufacturers after she allegedly suffered life-threatening bleeding caused by the drug.
Glenda Froelich filed the lawsuit May 12 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, accusing the drug makers of negligence and fraud. Companies involved in the development, manufacture and sale of Xarelto are named in the suit, including Janssen Research & Development LLC; Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Janssen Ortho LLC, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc., Bayer Pharma AG, Bayer Corp., Bayer Healthcare LLC, Bayer Healthcare AG, and Bayer AG.
According to the claim, Froelich started taking Xarelto, also known as rivaroxaban, at the direction of her doctor in December 2013 as a treatment for atrial fibrillation, a heart arrhythmia. In May 2014, Froelich allegedly suffered life-threatening internal bleeding and permanent injuries that the lawsuit claims were a result of taking Xarelto.
The lawsuit accuses the drug companies of not adequately warning doctors and patients about the risks associated with taking Xarelto, including an alleged lack of antidote for the drug.
Froelich is seeking monetary damages for medical and legal expenses and pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages, in amounts to be determined.
She is represented by attorneys Joseph Peiffer and Daniel Carr of Peiffer Rosca Wolf Abdullah Carr & Kane in New Orleans, and Michael B. Lynch of the Michael Brady Lynch Firm of Winter Park, Fla.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:15-cv-01557-EEF-MBN.