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On December 12, 2014, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict issued a transfer order pertaining to Xarelto lawsuits pending throughout the country. In the order, the panel judges decreed that all Xarelto lawsuits should be consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) and be named In re: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation. The MDL regarding pending Xarelto actions has been transferred to the Eastern District of Louisiana and will be overseen by Judge Eldon E. Fallon.
At the time of the issuance of the transfer order, there were twenty-one Xarelto actions pending in ten districts throughout the U.S. The cases were located in various states, including Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia. Plaintiffs in these matters argued for centralization, while defendants opposed this motion. In their opposition for centralization in an MDL, defendants contended that individual facts in each matter should predominate over any common issues that may be shared in the Xarelto cases.
Map showing the geographic boundaries of the different judicial districts in the U.S. The Xarelto MDL has been consolidated in region number 5, in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
However, the panel judges agreed with plaintiffs that the centralization of Xarelto lawsuits would be beneficial in properly addressing common issues that exist amongst all these cases. One important common factual issue is whether Xarelto’s warning label was adequate in addressing the risk of severe bleeding that may result from taking this anticoagulant drug. In further response to the defendants’ opposition of this centralization, the panel judges pointed out that the panel has previously centralized lawsuits in another anticoagulant matter, In re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Products Liability Litigation.
Image of Xarelto (rivaroxaban) anticoagulant pills (Obtained from NIH website)
Consolidation into multidistrict litigation allows for many benefits to plaintiffs. This includes better coordination of large amounts of evidence, sharing of discovery obligations amongst several plaintiffs firms, and the ability for one judge to oversee and issue rulings over several similar cases in a more expeditious manner. In other words, consolidation allows for consistency in rulings and efficacy for discovery matters. Multidistrict litigation is not the same type of litigation as a class-action suit; each claim in an MDL is handled individually.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury as a resulting of taking Xarelto, please contact our firm at 817-870-2102 or johnhart@hartlaw.com for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights.
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