Las Vegas: Today the law firms of Ed Bernstein & Associates, The Michael Brady Lynch Firm and Peiffer, Rosca, Abdullah & Carr announced the successful remand of a Las Vegas Pradaxa bleeding death case to Clark County, Nevada. By Order dated October 11, 2013, The Honorable David Herndon, who is overseeing Pradaxa MDL 2385 in the Southern District of Illinois, remanded the case Kathryn Zaite v. Carla J. Long, et al., back to the 8th District of Clark County, Nevada, where it was originally filed.

Remand of Pradaxa Case

Ms. Zaite brought this action against the manufacturer of Pradaxa, Boehringer Ingelheim, and one of its local sales representatives. Zaite brought the legal action on behalf of the estate of her deceased mother, Irma Toth.  The Zaite case alleges that Boehringer Ingelheim knew that there was an increased bleeding risk associated with the drug Pradaxa. Then, the company failed to adequately warn the medical community or the public at large of those risks. This ultimately lead to Ms. Toth’s injury and death.

“After a hard fought briefing battle, the Zaite Pradaxa case is rightfully back in Nevada state court,” said Patti Wise, Esq., managing attorney of Ed Bernstein & Associates. “As a Las Vegas resident, Irma Toth was owed the right have her case decided by members of her community of Clark County.”

Pradaxa Dangers

Since October 2010, the German drug company Boehringer Ingelheim has sold Pradaxa in the United States. The company claims that the drug has achieved “blockbuster” status. This means it has over $1 billion in yearly sales, and consumers use the drug in more than 70 countries. Unfortunately, reports as early as late 2010 indicated that Pradaxa may have serious health risks.

On December 7, 2011, the FDA warned that it was investigating Pradaxa for more injury or death reports than expected. USA Today reported that in 2011, the FDA received reports of 3,781 adverse side effects. Also, there were 542 deaths among Pradaxa users, more than all other medications. In September of 2012, The Journal of The American Medical Association warned that the FDA may have rushed approval. Specifically, the organization overlooked key side effects like internal bleeding.

“Due to the uncontrollable bleeding brought about by Pradaxa and the lack of any effective reversal agent, Irma Toth suffered a terrible and wholly preventable death,” said Michael Brady Lynch, Esq., of The Michael Brady Lynch Firm and co-counsel on the Zaite case. “Once a bleed on Pradaxa occurs, there is almost nothing a doctor or hospital can do to stop it.” Lynch is also a member of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee (PSC) of the Pradaxa MDL 2385, which oversees Pradaxa cases filed in federal court.

About the Case

The Zaite case was originally filed in Clark Country. However,  the court transferred it to federal court at the request of the defendants. We issued a remand order. The judge agreed that a case rightfully belongs in the state court in which plaintiffs filed the case. In the Zaite case, defendant Boehringer Ingelheim argued aggressively to prevent the Zaite case from returning to Clark County.

“The defendants fought tooth and nail to prevent the return of the Zaite case to Clark County,” said Joseph Peiffer, Esq., a partner at Peiffer, Rosca, Abdullah & Carr. “We look forward to a trial setting in Las Vegas where Irma Toth’s peers can judge the conduct of Boehringer Ingelheim and their dangerous drug Pradaxa.”