Pradaxa Settlement Announced

Boehringer Ingelheim has agreed to a settlement with 4,000 United States cases against their drug anticoagulant Pradaxa (dabigatran).  This “comprehensive settlement” will pay out over $650 million towards lawsuits directed against Pradaxa and the excessive bleeding complications association with the drug.  The FDA has previously stated that Pradaxa has a “favorable benefit to risk profile” and the issue is tough to resolve due to bleeding complications that are associated with every anticoagulant drug.

Outside of warfarin and Pradaxa, Xarelto (rivaroxaban) and Eliquis (apixaban) are also available but have risk of bleeding complications as well.  All come with benefit and risk arguments and concerns but Pradaxa seems to be at the top of the list in this case.

Andreas Neumann, Head of the Legal Department and General Counsel for Boehringer Ingelheim worldwide was quoted in this Forbes article – “We continue to stand resolutely behind Pradaxa® and believed from the outset that the plaintiffs’ claims lacked any merit. Notwithstanding our strong belief that we would prevail in these lawsuits, this settlement allows our company to avoid the distraction and uncertainty of protracted litigation over years and years….Furthermore we have to consider that juries composed of lay people have to decide about very difficult scientific matters. All this does not allow reliable predictions for the outcome of a huge number of individual trials and that is why we came to the tough decision to settle.”

With this current settlement finally at a close and resolution, this could be leeway into settlements for similar pharmaceuticals on the market.

Photo Credit – Boehringer Ingelheim

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