A new injury lawsuit has been filed by the surviving spouse of a man who allegedly passed away after ingesting .
The decedent named in this injury lawsuit ingested the medication from December 2014 to January 2015. He was originally prescribed for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis.
According to the injury lawsuit, the decedent suffered severe injuries including respiratory failure and severe anemia that occurred on Jan. 2, 2015.
The patient was allegedly required to undergo multiple blood transfusions and was hospitalized in Illinois as a result. Due to these quickly developing side effects, the decedent’s physician recommended that he discontinue using the medication, the injury lawsuit states.
The decedent passed away in August of 2015.
What is ?
is an oral anticoagulant that is used to minimize the chances of systemic embolism or stroke or to treat pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. Prophylaxis of DVT for patients who have knee or hip replacement surgery is another common reason for doctors to prescribe .
The injury lawsuit alleges that the manufacturers knew about the risks or should have known about the risks of severe side effects and life-threatening injuries and failed to properly warn patients and doctors about them.
Further, the injury lawsuit states that the manufacturers overly promoted this medication.
According to information released by the developer and manufacturers, more than 7 million people across the world have been prescribed and by the end of 2013, more than 1 million prescriptions had been written in the United States alone.
This led to significant sales of the medication despite the severe risks and a number of adverse event reports that were ultimately filed by patients who took the medication and suffered gastrointestinal bleeding or other severe complications.
The side effects from using may develop quickly and could be life-threatening. Reporting those concerns to a doctor could lead to quick intervention that prevents death. Some of the most common as well as the most serious side effects include gastrointestinal bleeding, stroke, and pulmonary embolism.
Bleeding is a very risky side effect because the patient might not realize what has happened until it’s too late to do anything about the bleed. This is why many affected patients or their surviving family members have come forward with legal claims and allegations that the drugmakers should have done more.
If you have developed life threatening complications due to taking this oral anticoagulant, you may have grounds for an injury lawsuit.
If you lost a loved one due to side effects that you believe were tied to the use of , consult with an experienced attorney. Contact the lawyers at McDonald Worley today for a free case review.