Bayer and Janssen hear $ 775 million settlement for anticoagulant

March 26, 2019, 10:09 GMT / Update March 26, 2019, 10:19 GMT

By Associated press

NEW ORLEANS – Pharmaceutical companies behind Xarelto, a widely advertised anticoagulant, have settled $ 775 million in 25,000 lawsuits claiming patients were not sufficiently warned of potential life-threatening complications, plaintiffs and manufacturers said on Monday.

Bayer Healthcare and Janssen Pharmaceuticals won six of the cases that went to trial. Bayer said in an email that the regulation "allows the company to avoid distraction and the significant costs associated with litigation."

Xarelto is the brand name of the drug rivaroxaban. Its uses include the treatment and prevention of blood clots in the leg or lung and the prevention of strokes in people with irregular heartbeats. Highly advertised on television, he was mowed down in a widely seen 2015 commercial starring comedian Kevin Nealon, golfer Arnold Palmer and NASCAR driver Brian Vickers.

The trials dating back to 2014 had been consolidated in federal court in New Orleans. They implied claims that users of the medicines marketed by Bayer Healthcare and Janssen, the pharmaceuticals, were not sufficiently informed about the risks of life-threatening complications, including internal bleeding, stroke and death.

"There is no admission of liability, and we remain convinced that the claims raised in the dispute contradict years of scientific data and the repeated confirmation by the US Food and Drug Administration of the lack of liability." safety and effectiveness of Xarelto, "said Sarah Freeman, spokeswoman for Janssen Pharmaceuticals. a statement sent by email.

Plaintiffs' lawyers described the settlement as a "fair and equitable resolution" in a statement setting out its details. A court-appointed special master and a claims administrator will be appointed to handle claims and process appeals.

"It may have taken more than four years and six separate trials, but such litigation is an important way for consumers to make their voice heard about drug safety," said the plaintiffs' attorney, Brian Barr, in the release.

US District Judge Eldon Faldon chaired the cases. He issued a series of orders Monday regarding the implementation of the regulation. A detailed settlement document had not been tabled at Monday noon.

According to the plaintiffs' statement, in addition to the treatment of legal actions already part of the multi-district litigation, the agreement resolves the newly filed claims by those who had retained the services of a lawyer to investigate claims relating to bodily injuries related to Xarelto prior to March 11th when they registered their application by March 28 and filed on April 4.

Neither party had an estimate of how much an individual could get. Payments will be "substantially reduced" for those who applied on or after December 1, 2015, or for those who suffered a first injury injury that they attributed to the drug as of March 1, 2016, indicates the press release of the plaintiffs' lawyers.