Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, a German drug manufacturing company, has agreed to pay $650 million to settle the majority of lawsuits filed over Pradaxa, a blood thinner linked to more than 500 patient deaths.
The first U.S. trial against Boehringer is set to begin September after claims that there was no antidote to stop patients from bleeding out were made. Boehringer is seeking to resolve about 4,000 lawsuits, which would result in about $162,500 for each case payout.
About 2,500 lawsuits have been consolidated in Illinois and an additional 1,500 are in state courts in Connecticut, California and Delaware.
According to Bloomberg, patients and their families allege that Boehringer executives knew the drug posed a deadly risk when it was introduced in to the market in October 2010. Last year, researchers came up with an experimental antidote for Pradaxa which has generated more than $1 billion in sales worldwide for the drug manufacturer.
In mid-May, Boehringer announced that they had complete a new analysis of a company-funded study that was used to win approval of Pradaxa. The analysis revealed that 22 serious bleeding events were not included in the original report.
Documents made public as part of patients lawsuits also showed that officials didn’t disclose a data analysis that indicated the drug may have caused more fatal bleeding after it was cleared for sale compared to the number caused during a study of the drug.
By 2011, the FDA had received more than 540 reports of death linked to the drug and an additional 3,780 reports of serious side-effects.
If you or someone you love has suffered serious side-effects after using Pradaxa or if you have lost a loved one due this dangerous drug, our Pradaxa attorneys can help you.
Contact a personal injury lawyer at O’Connor, Acciani & Levy today by calling (877) 288-3241 or fill out the Free Case Evaluation form on this page to get connected with one of our experienced attorneys and to learn more about your legal rights.