Philadelphia Firms Appointed to Lead State and National Xarelto Litigation

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Feb 11, 2015, 01:12 ET

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Philadelphia attorneys Dianne M. Nast of NastLaw LLC, Frederick Longer of Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman, and Dr. Mark Alan Hoffman of Ross Feller Casey LLP have been appointed to the Plaintiff's Steering Committee in the litigation against Xarelto®, a widely prescribed blood thinning medication manufactured by Bayer and marketed by Janssen. Federal Judge Eldon E. Fallon of Louisiana made the Plaintiff's Steering Committee (PSC) appointments.

Three Philadelphia attorneys were also appointed Plaintiff's Co-Liaison Counsel to lead the Xarelto litigation in Pennsylvania. Michael M. Weinkowitz of Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman, Daniel N. Gallucci of NastLaw, and Laura Feldman of Feldman & Pinto were appointed by Judge Arnold L. New, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Xarelto®, like Pradaxa®, was created to offer a safer, easier alternative to warfarin for anticoagulation therapy, a drug which had been on the market for over 50 years and requires routine blood testing and dose adjustments. The lawsuit also alleges that Bayer and Janssen failed in their responsibility to advise doctors and patients on how to use Xarelto® in the safest and most effective way – by having routine blood tests. Despite clear evidence of the opportunity to reduce bleeding events by way of a simple blood test (done as infrequently as once a year) in which they could identify patients at an elevated risk of a major bleed (relative to other Xarelto® patients), Bayer and Johnson & Johnson has chosen not to provide this information to its customers.

The Philadelphia firms represent the families of individuals who died after taking Xarelto, and the drug has been linked to hundreds of deaths since it was approved in 2011. According to the lawsuit, prescribing physicians and millions of their patients were not adequately warned about the risks of Xarelto. In 2012 alone, over 2,000 serious adverse events were reported from Xarelto, including 151 deaths.

Despite the hundreds of deaths linked to Xarelto, its manufacturers continue to aggressively market the product to drive more sales. In Q4 2014 alone, Xarelto brought in $414 million for Bayer and Janssen, a 68% increase year over year.

NastLaw LLC is located at 1101 Market Street, Suite 2801, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107. NastLaw LLC focuses its practice in antitrust and mass tort law, including pharmaceutical product liability, medical device product liability, price fixing and other wrongful business practices.

Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman is located at 510 Walnut Street, Suite 500, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106. Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman provides specialized representation to plaintiffs in complex personal injury and class action cases, involving practice areas including antitrust, consumer, pharmaceutical and products liability issues, medical malpractice, and other major personal injury cases.

Feldman & Pinto, PC is located at 1604 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. The firm concentrates on cases involving complex personal injuries with a focus on pharmaceutical and product liability and medical malpractice.

Ross Feller Casey LLP is located at One Liberty Place 1650 Market Street, Suite 3450 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

Press Contact:
Daniel Gallucci
215-923-9300
[email protected]
www.NastLaw.com

SOURCE NastLaw LLC