Medical Malpractice
This page is about medical malpractice lawsuits from a blood thinner overdose and from other medication errors related to blood thinners. An overdose of a blood thinner is a very serious medical management problem and almost invariably medical malpractice if prescribed in that dosage by a health care professional. 
Anticoagulants, commonly referred to as “blood thinners,” are medications used to slow the blood’s natural clotting process. Common brand-name prescription anticoagulants include Coumadin, Xarelto, Heparin, Lovenox, Eliquis, Plavix, and Pradaxa.
These blood thinners work by decreasing the ability of the blood to coagulate. Coagulation is the process by which blood thickens from a liquid to a gel. Warfarin prevents coagulation by inhibiting Vitamin K epoxide reductase, which is necessary for coagulation.
Patients experiencing or at risk of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, atrial fibrillation, or other conditions may be given blood thinners to prevent blood clots that could lead to heart attack or stroke.
Anticlotting drugs are also given to patients who have already had a heart attack or stroke to reduce the risk of further damage or recurrence. Others are used during certain medical procedures or treatments to prevent clotting in the medical equipment tubing, such as during bypass surgery or kidney dialysis.
Blood Thinner Malpractice Lawsuits
While intended to treat or prevent potentially life-threatening health problems, anticoagulants themselves can be very dangerous. Many blood thinners have very narrow margins of error—even the slightest mistake in strength or dosage can have devastating consequences.
Some populations are particularly susceptible to overdose and must be treated with extreme caution and monitored carefully when on anticoagulants; these populations include the elderly and infants, as well as patients with certain health conditions or those on certain other medications.
Blood thinner overdose is still relatively uncommon. But, still too often, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists accidentally prescribe too much of a blood thinner that causes the patient’s death.
Why Do People Overdose on Blood Thinners?
In the vast majority of overdose cases, human error is the culprit. Sometimes, the cause of the overdose is tragically simple to avoid. Often, a nurse or doctor, whether in a hurry or not paying enough attention, misreads the label on the medication and gives the patient a higher-strength formulation of the blood thinner than intended, or conversely, gives the patient more of the medication than appropriate. Even a double dose of blood thinner – most of us have accidentally taken a double dose of medication at some point – can cause severe bleeding.
In other instances, the practitioner may fail to properly inform the patient that certain medications, supplements, or dietary choices may exacerbate the effects of the anticoagulants, thereby leading to an overdose even when the strength and dosage would have otherwise been appropriate. In all of these instances, the harm could have been avoided were it not for the practitioner’s failure to meet the standard of care in administering these medications which are well known to be lethal if not dispensed and managed with caution.
Failure to Monitor Malpractice Claims
In many cases, the negligence occurs in the practitioner’s failure to monitor the patient for signs and symptoms of an adverse reaction or overdose. Depending upon the type of blood thinner employed and the patient’s health, it may be necessary to obtain certain blood tests at regular intervals to ensure the patient’s clotting rate is still within a safe range.
Blood thinners need to be maintained in a therapeutic range. The therapeutic range involves a clotting test called INR. Doctors take a specimen of blood from a patient, put it in a test tube, remove the cells, and then treat the fluid of the blood with a clotting stimulant, and to see how long it takes for the patient’s blood to clot.
What Happens When You Overdose on Blood Thinners?
Patients experiencing an overdose may exhibit outward symptoms of overdose including increased or abnormal bruising; excessive bleeding from even minor cuts and scrapes, nose bleeds, or blood in the stool, urine, or vomit.
Patients may also report a headache, chest pain, stomach pain, dizziness, or sudden weakness among other symptoms. Serious injury or death may be avoided with prompt recognition of the signs of an overdose and rapid, adequate treatment; however, when left unchecked, patients may suffer severe consequences including gastrointestinal bleeding, hemorrhagic stroke, or death.
Anticoagulants can be life-saving medications when used appropriately and with proper care and supervision. However, it is well documented that even minor errors in strength or dosage, or the failure to recognize and promptly treat an overdose, can lead to severe injury or death. All too often in these cases, the carelessness of the victim’s healthcare provider is to blame and the result is a blood thinner lawsuit alleging medical malpractice.
Treat a Blood Thinner Overdose Quickly
Many blood thinners have a neutralizing antidote to overcome an overdose. When a patient has an overdose of heparin, for example, there is a reversal agent. The patient is often quickly given protamine to neutralize the overdose. But protamine and other neutralizing agents have cardiovascular and other harmful side effects. So when you give more protamine or clotting factor to combat an overdose of blood thinners, you may have other side effects that may be harmful to the patient.
Bridging Therapy
Patients taking anticoagulants who are getting a surgical procedure are walking a fine line. You don’t want to bleed too much… or too little. Doctors have to walk this fine line by making reasonable judgments.
Generally, the standard of care requires surgical patients to be taken off of Coumadin before surgery to let the INR fall in the therapeutic range of 2.0-3.0 for atrial fibrillation or 2.5-3.5 for prosthetic heart valves to <1.5.
For those patients at greatest risk of developing thromboembolism, bridging therapy with an anticoagulant may be required. Treatment resumes as soon as prudent after the procedure and continued until the INR reaches the desired therapeutic level.
In patients whose risk is only moderate, it is generally safe to stop Coumadin and let the INR sink to a level <1.5 without bridging therapy. Generally for patients with INRs in the therapeutic range for a few days.
Blood Thinner Malpractice Verdicts & Settlements
Below are summaries of verdicts and publicly reported settlements in medical malpractice cases involving overdoses or other medication errors related to blood thinners such as Haprin.
$850,000 Settlement (Illinois 2023): Adult male patient had been taking Pradaxa to prevent thromboemboli but allegedly discontinued use of the anticoagulant, per an order from the defendant doctor several days before he underwent surgery. Following the surgery, the patient developed thromboembolism and a vein clot which eventually led to his death. Lawsuit alleged that the defendant was negligent in discontinuing the blood thinner.
$847,150 Verdict (Pennsylvania 2022): 42-year-old male patient bled to death, allegedly due to a stomach ulcer and gastrointestinal hemorrhage, while under the care of the defendant gastroenterologist. Wrongful death lawsuit claimed that the defendant was negligent in administering blood thinner drug Heparin, which was contraindicated in cases of gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
$1,700,000 Verdict (Washington 2020): 69-year-old woman underwent surgery for ovarian cancer. She was administered Heparin blood thinner subcutaneously both before and after the surgical procedure. Shortly after the surgery, she developed a spinal epidural hematoma which caused paralysis. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants were negligent in both the timing of the pre-operative administration of subcutaneous heparin, and also in their postoperative monitoring for signs of a hematoma.
$650,000 Verdict (New York 2019): A woman in her early 70s was hit in a pedestrian accident and suffered a broken leg. While at the hospital for treatment she died from complications resulting from a blood clot in her leg. The lawsuits alleged that the doctors were negligent in discontinuing the woman’s Heparin blood thinner medication which caused the blood clot.
Getting a Blood Thinner Lawsuit Malpractice Lawyer
If you have been harmed by medical malpractice from the misuse of blood thinners, call our attorneys today at 800-553-8082 to discuss your options or get a free strategy session online.
- New study questions whether new blood thinners like Xarelto and Eliquis are better at preventing major bleeding events (although they likely are better at dealing with blood clots)</li >
- Overview of medical malpractice cases in Maryland
- Example blood thinner lawsuit
- Often, it is the anesthesiologist who administers the overdose of heparin in the OR