*Please note that we are no longer accepting clients for Eliquis claims
Why Choose Shapiro Legal Group, PLLC for Your Eliquis Lawsuit?
- Mark Shapiro has been handling tort lawsuits, including Eliquis, for over a decade.
- Our Eliquis lawsuit attorney only specializes in mass tort litigation, giving us insight and specialized knowledge to handle your case.
- At Shapiro Legal Group, we ensure that any negligent parties are held responsible for your injuries by pursuing the maximum possible compensation you need to make a full recovery.
What Is Eliquis?
Eliquis is an anticoagulant, or a drug commonly known as a blood thinner. The purpose of these drugs is to prevent blood clots, which can be extremely dangerous. Blood clots may form in our legs, migrating to vital organs such as the heart, brain, and lungs. Once in these areas, clots can cause a blockage that can stop blood and oxygen flow — which can easily be fatal.
In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Eliquis to treat blood clots and prevent dangerous conditions such as deep vein thrombosis, stroke, and pulmonary embolism in American patients. The pharmaceutical companies Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer manufacture this drug.
These companies tout Eliquis as a safe alternative to warfarin, an older anticoagulant that led to dangerous excessive bleeding. However, the evidence supporting this claim is thin and many Eliquis patients experience dangerous and life-threatening side effects.
Is Eliquis a Dangerous Drug?
While blood clots can be dangerous, they do serve a purpose. When we suffer a wound, blood clotting helps with healing and prevents further bleeding. All blood thinners carry the risk of excessive bleeding, since they reduce our blood’s ability to clot. You can reverse this excessive bleeding by taking Vitamin K.
The manufacturers of Eliquis marketed this product as a safe alternative to warfarin, preventing the risk of excessive bleeding. However, patient experience shows that Eliquis can lead to dangerous internal bleeding that doctors cannot reverse with an antidote like Vitamin K.
In addition, critics of the research surrounding Eliquis have pointed out that these studies have significant flaws. The FDA denied the approval of Eliquis for several months prior to its release, citing several issues with the study. These issues and the eventual approval of Eliquis has caused harm to several consumers.
Specifically, the clinical trial known as Aristotle (Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thrombotic Events in Atrial Fibrillation) skewed safety data to suggest that Eliquis is not as safe as the manufacturers want the consumers to believe and failed to prove that the drug was safer than warfarin. The FDA states that the manufacturers of Eliquis failed to report adverse medical events, including the deaths of people who used the drug, and excluded medical outcomes from the initial trial.
What Are the Bad Side Effects of Eliquis?
Eliquis itself carries a number of dangerous side effects far more serious than warfarin and other blood thinners. In particular, Eliquis can cause serious internal bleeding that can cause severe complications.
The side effects of this drug include the following.
- Eye bleeding
- Cerebral hemorrhage
- Rectal bleeding
- Stroke
- Gastrointestinal bleeding
- Spinal bleeding
- Death
Unlike warfarin, doctors cannot provide a quick antidote to help reverse the side effects of Eliquis. In some cases, these side effects may be fatal or cause life-lasting complications, leading to thousands of dollars in medical debt, lost wages, pain and suffering, and a loss of quality of life.
If you or a loved one were an Eliquis patient and experienced any of these complications, you may be eligible for financial compensation — and Shapiro Legal Group, PLLC can help. We represent clients from across the country in their claims against negligent corporations like Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer, and our attorneys will advocate for your best interests each step of the way.