March 9, 2017 – San Diego, CA — Plaintiffs and defendants are gearing up for the first bellwether trial in the Xarelto multidistrict litigation (MDL) set to begin next month.
The trial is slated for April 24 in the Eastern District of Louisiana, where less than two dozen Xarelto lawsuits were first consolidated in December 2014.
Today, there are more than 15,000 lawsuits filed in the MDL and nearly 17,000 are filed in total nationwide.
Xarelto lawsuits involve allegations that the blood-thinning drug can cause uncontrollable and life-threatening bleeding episodes in some people.
Next month’s trial comes after a series of delays pushed back its scheduled start date. There are four Xarelto bellwether trials altogether and they were originally expected to begin in early February.
First, the trials were set back because the NBA All-Star Games were relocated from North Carolina to New Orleans in response to the state’s controversial “bathroom bill.”
Then the trials were pushed back a second time at the request of both parties last month, delaying the trials until April.
Plaintiffs and defendants are due to meet March 23 for oral arguments regarding the first and second bellwethers.
Bellwether Trial Schedule
District Judge Eldon E. Fallon issued a case management order on Jan. 30, laying out the new bellwether trial schedule as follows:
- First trial — April 24, 2017 in the Eastern District of Louisiana
- Second trial — May 30, 2017 in the Eastern District of Louisiana
- Third trial — To Be Set in June 2017 in the Southern District of Mississippi
- Fourth trial — To Be Set in July 2017 in the Northern District of Texas
The following cases were chosen as bellwethers:
- Boudreaux, Jr. et al v. Janssen Research & Development LLC et al (2:14-cv-02720)
- Orr et al v. Janssen Research & Development LLC et al (2:15-cv-03708)
- Mingo v. Janssen Research & Development LLC et al (2:15-cv-03469)
- Henry v. Jansen Research & Development LLC et al (2:15-cv-00224)
First Bellwether Case
The Xarelto lawsuit chosen as the first bellwether was filed Dec. 1, 2014, less than two weeks before the Xarelto MDL was formed.
Louisiana resident Joseph Boudreaux Jr. filed the case accusing Xarelto’s manufacturers of designing a defective product and concealing the risks of the drug from the healthcare community, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the public in general, according to the lawsuit.
Boudreaux first began taking Xarelto in January 2014. He was prescribed the drug to treat his atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart beats irregularly and causes poor blood flow.
The plaintiff had only been taking Xarelto for about a month when he suffered a severe gastrointestinal bleed and had to be hospitalized, according to court documents.
Boudreaux received several blood transfusions as a result of the internal bleeding and spent four nights in two different hospitals.
He is suing the makers of Xarelto — Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, along with healthcare giant Bayer – on 12 counts, including product liability, negligence, and fraud.
Xarelto Lawsuits
There are more than 15,000 Xarelto lawsuits pending in the multidistrict litigation in the Eastern District of Louisiana and nearly 17,000 lawsuits are pending nationwide.
If you were injured by Xarelto, there is still time to file a Xarelto Lawsuit, but you need to act fast! Xarelto bellwether trials are scheduled to start in April 2017 and they could take the parties one step closer towards a global settlement.
The experienced legal team at Hood National Law Group is ready to answer your questions and help you file a claim for compensation. Call us today at 1-800-214-1010 for a free case evaluation.
