The Pradaxa multi-district litigation (MDL) met in early February for a status conference to discuss recent progress made in the discovery and deposition processes. According to Seth A. Katz, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the Pradaxa MDL, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. has not been meeting production deadlines.
According to the Pradaxa MDL status conference minutes, the plaintiffs asked for certain documents to be produced by Boehringer Ingelheim, the pharmaceutical company that develops and manufactures Pradaxa, an anticoagulant medicine prescribed to patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.
These document requests were made in late December and in mid-January. As of yet, these documents have been provided to neither the plaintiffs nor their legal counsel. Since then, the plaintiffs have voiced concern about whether Boehringer Ingelheim will transmit these custodial files to the plaintiffs for review.
The discovery phase in the Pradaxa MDL is important for the plaintiffs and their legal counsel in that it allows them to review the documents provided by Boehringer Ingelheim, and in doing so, build a case around the evidence presented in these internal documents.
To date, approximately 258 cases have been consolidated into the Pradaxa MDL. These consolidated cases are being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The Pradaxa MDL is known as in Re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Products Liability Litigation MDL no. 2385. Chief Judge David R. Herndon is presiding over court proceedings.
The court minutes state that the next status conference in the Pradaxa MDL has been scheduled for March 14.
Pradaxa has gained a reputation for causing serious bleeding events that can be fatal. Patients with atrial fibrillation have used Pradaxa to prevent stroke and blood clots. However, Pradaxa has not worked as designed, and has led to a severe bleeding events and numerous deaths.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s anticoagulant medicine was intended to replace warfarin, a drug introduced in the 1950s. Pradaxa has proved to be an insufficient replacement, if it can even be considered a replacement.
An enormous complication with the use of Pradaxa is that it does not have a reversal agent, meaning a medicine that can be ingested to reverse the blood thinning properties present in Pradaxa. Unlike warfarin, Boehringer Ingelheim released Pradaxa onto the market without a panacea for serious bleeding events. The reversal agent for warfarin is Vitamin K.
The defective drug and Pradaxa lawyers at Carey Danis & Lowe continue to follow the Pradaxa MDL in East St. Louis for any updates that may benefit our Pradaxa clients. Carey Danis & Lowe is accepting Pradaxa claims, and offering free legal consultations about Pradaxa cases.
If you or someone you love has been injured by Pradaxa, you and your loved one may be eligible to receive compensation. To file a Pradaxa lawsuit, contact a Pradaxa lawyer at Carey Danis & Lowe today by calling 800.721.2519 or submit a legal claim form.
