Xarelto is a blood thinner used for patients with the heart condition atrial fibrillation. The treatment is used to prevent strokes among patients who have the condition, as they have five times the risk of having a stroke without treatment. However, manufacturers of the treatment also face lawsuits after patients experienced side effects from its use.
Despite the lawsuits, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said that Xarelto is safe to use, according to Reuters. Xarelto has been made as a replacement for warfarin since the latter has since become ineffective.
Xarelto, however, isn't without any problems, since its manufacturers are currently facing lawsuits. The lawsuits stem from two cases. The first one is a man who has suffered gastrointestinal bleeding after taking Xarelto. The other case is that of a woman who had a fatal cerebral hemorrhage just one month after taking the medicine, Consumer Advocacy News stated in its report.
The two trials have been postponed, however, with the first one starting on March 13, 2017 from its original date of February 6, 2017. The other trial has also been delayed to April 24, 2017 from its March 13, 2017 date.
Xarelto also has controversy surrounding it due to false claims in advertising. The FDA said that advertisement about it is false or misleading since it has not noted the risk associated with its use. Use of Xarelto could lead to internal bleeding and there is no medical method said to reverse this effect.
Internationally, Xarelto is manufactured by Bayer A.G. while in the U.S. it is made by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Chemically, Xarelto is known as rivaroxaban. Both companies are faced with 7,200 lawsuits in the U.S., including the two mentioned lawsuits.
In other news, a breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer's disease might have been reached with a new gene treatment being developed.
