Failure to Warn, Punitive Damages Claims to Proceed in Pradaxa Bleeding Case

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. — A West Virginia federal judge has allowed claims of failure to warn, breach of warranty and punitive damages claims to proceed in a case accusing the maker of Pradaxa of failing to adequately warn of the bleeding risk posed by the anticoagulant drug.

However, in the May 31 order, Judge Robert C. Chambers of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia awarded Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BIPI) summary judgment on the defective design claim, ruling that the plaintiff failed to show the existence of a safer alternative to Pradaxa.

Betty Knight suffered …