Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog
As a Pradaxa Hemorrhage and Stroke attorney, I am providing this update regarding the consolidation of Pradaxa federal lawsuits. All Pradaxa lawsuits filed in federal district courts throughout the United States will be consolidated before one judge for coordinated pre-trial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) ordered the Pradaxa litigation to be centralized before U.S. District Judge David R. Herndon in the Southern District of Illinois.
This order means that Pradaxa lawyers filing new cases in federal district courts, they will be automatically transferred to the Southern District of Illinois for pretrial proceedings.
Pradaxa Stroke and Hemorrhage Lawsuits
The Pradaxa lawsuits involve claims that allege uncontrollable bleeding after taking the anticoagulant drug, and that Boehringer Ingelheim, the manufacturer, failed to provide adequate warning about the risk and the lack of an effective reversal agent to stop bleeding problems.
What is Pradaxa?
Pradaxa (dabigitran) is an anticoagulant that was released by Boehringer Ingelheim in October 2010 for prevention of strokes in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.
Pradaxa Safety Warnings
According to a report by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), which analyzed all adverse event reports submitted to the FDA during 2011, there were 2,367 reports of bleeding problems with Pradaxa, as well as 542 reports of death among Pradaxa users.
Pradaxa MDL
MDL or multidistrict litigation consolidation of cases is common in pharmaceutical litigation, where a large number of cases are filed involving similar allegations of facts. The coordinated mechanism during pretrial proceedings is designed to reduce duplicative discovery, avoid inconsistent pretrial rulings from different judges and to serve the convenience of the parties, the witnesses and the courts.
Although the cases in an MDL are handled in a coordinated manner, each lawsuit remains an individual case. These are not to be confused with class actions. In the event that a Pradaxa settlement for the litigation is not reached during pretrial proceedings, the claims would be remanded back to the federal district court where they were originally filed for individual trial.
Judge Herndon will preside over all pretrial proceedings as well as any bellwether trials that may be scheduled in the MDL.
Read more here
Pradaxa Bleeding Death Lawsuits Update Posted June 8, 2012, Pradaxa Cerebral Hemorrhage Lawsuit Posted May 2, 2012, Pradaxa Overdose and Hemorrhage Posted April 6, 2012, The Problem with Pradaxa Posted April 1, 2012