The federal judge handling the $775 million settlement over the blood thinner Xarelto has established a committee of five attorneys to assess how up to $93 million set aside for leading plaintiffs firms should be doled out.

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon of the Eastern District of Louisiana tapped Pensacola, Florida, attorney Brian Barr of Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Rafferty & Proctor; Andy Birchfield of Beasley Allen in Montgomery, Alabama; Leonard Davis of Herman Herman & Katz in New Orleans; Gerald Meunier of Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer, also in New Orleans; and Levin Sedran & Berman attorney Michael Weinkowitz in Philadelphia to form what the judge referred to as a “fee allocation liaison counsel” in the Xarelto litigation. The attorneys will be tasked with coming up with a recommendation for how the court should divide up the common benefit fund.

Johnson & Johnson has been facing several lawsuits over its different products, including talc, hip-plants, and the blood thinner, Xarelto. There are a total of around 50,000 such cases against the company. The company has agreed to settle several of these cases, as announced over the last few months. However, if it were to settle all of the above 50,000 cases, it would cost the company an amount north of $6 billion, in our view. Johnson & Johnson is capable of settling all the claims if need be from its cash in hand of $14 billion. View our interactive dashboard analysis ~ How Much Money Could Johnson & Johnson Have To Shell Out To Settle Its Lawsuits? 

KEY POINTS
Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to settle more than 25,000 U.S. lawsuits over their blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto for a total of $775 million, court documents on Monday showed.
The settlement will resolve all pending U.S. lawsuits over Xarelto, which plaintiffs claimed causes uncontrollable and irreversible bleeding leading to severe injuries and even death among thousands of plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs accused the drugmakers of having failed to warn about the bleeding risks, claiming their injuries could have been prevented had doctors and patients been provided adequate information.

Bayer and Johnson & Johnson have agreed to settle more than 25,000 U.S. lawsuits over their blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto for a total of $775 million, court documents on Monday showed.

The amount will be shared equally between the two companies that jointly developed the drug. Bayer and J&J do not admit liability under the agreement.

The settlement will resolve all pending U.S. lawsuits over Xarelto, which plaintiffs claimed causes uncontrollable and irreversible bleeding leading to severe injuries and even death among thousands of plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs accused the drugmakers of having failed to warn about the bleeding risks, claiming their injuries could have been prevented had doctors and patients been provided adequate information.

Bayer in a statement on Monday said it continues to believe the claims are without merit.