Jury Orders Bayer, J&J to Pay $28 Million for Xarelto Claims in First Bellwether Loss

A Philadelphia jury found Bayer and Johnson & Johnson liable for the injuries of a woman prescribed their prescription blood thinner Xarelto, following three consecutive victories for the drugmakers in similar “bellwether” cases.

The liability suits claimed the companies failed to warn about the possibility of internal bleeding from the drug, which is primarily used to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism, as well as to treat deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

In the fourth in a series of 40 cases against the joint developers of the drug approved by the FDA in 2011, the jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas found in favor of the plaintiff Lynn Hartman.