Oxbryta Lawsuit Lawyer in Alabama

The Alabama Oxbryta lawsuit lawyers at Fob James Law Firm are representing victims of the sickle cell drug known as Oxbryta.

Oxbryta (voxelotor) was once considered a breakthrough treatment for sickle cell disease. Marketed as a life-saving drug, it was prescribed to patients across the country — including many here in Alabama.

Unfortunately, Oxbryta was later linked to serious side effects, including life-threatening vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs), organ damage, and even death. Now, lawsuits are being filed against the manufacturer for failing to warn patients about these risks.

If you or a loved one suffered complications after taking Oxbryta, the attorneys at Fob James Law Firm are here to help.

Contact our Oxbryta injury lawyers in Birmingham, AL today for a free, no-obligation consultation to explore your legal options.

What Is Oxbryta and Why Was Oxbryta Recalled?

Oxbryta (voxelotor) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019 to treat sickle cell disease (SCD), a genetic condition that affects the red blood cells.

It was designed to improve hemoglobin’s ability to carry oxygen and reduce red blood cell sickling, offering hope to millions living with this genetic blood disorder.

However, in September 2024, Pfizer announced a global recall of Oxbryta after clinical data revealed an increased risk of severe complications, including:

• vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs)
• strokes
• organ failure
• fatalities

Post-marketing studies and real-world data showed that Oxbryta increased the risk of VOCs, a painful condition where sickle-shaped red blood cells block blood flow.

The FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued warnings, highlighting a significant imbalance in adverse events compared to placebo groups.

Health Risks Associated With Oxbryta

While Oxbryta was intended to reduce SCD complications, studies have linked it to life-threatening side effects, including:

• Vaso-Occlusive Crises (VOCs): Blockages in blood vessels causing severe pain, often requiring hospitalization.
• Stroke: Increased risk of cerebrovascular events due to restricted blood flow.
• Organ Damage: Kidney failure, liver damage, and other long-term complications.
• Death: Higher mortality rates in Oxbryta users compared to placebo groups in clinical trials.
• Other Complications: Increased need for blood transfusions, vision loss, and chronic pain.

The lawsuits claim that Global Blood Therapeutics, a company acquired by Pfizer in 2024, failed to adequately test Oxbryta and to warn doctors and patients about the true risks

Who Qualifies for an Oxbryta Lawsuit in Alabama?

Not everyone who took Oxbryta qualifies for a lawsuit. Generally, you may be eligible to file a claim if:

• You were prescribed Oxbryta and suffered a vaso-occlusive crisis or other severe side effect.
• You were hospitalized or required medical treatment after taking Oxbryta.
• A loved one passed away due to complications while taking Oxbryta.

Contact our Alabama Oxbryta injury lawyers today to determine your eligibility.

Alabama Statute of Limitations

Time to file a lawsuit is critical due to statutes of limitations. In Alabama, most defective drug and product liability lawsuits must be filed within two years of the injury or death.

However, the timeline can vary depending on when you discovered the harm. Because missing the deadline can bar your claim forever, it’s critical to speak with an attorney as soon as possible.

What Type of Compensation Is Available?

If your case qualifies, you may be entitled to financial compensation for damages such as:

• Medical Expenses: Hospital stays, treatments, and ongoing care.
• Lost Wages: Income lost due to inability to work.
• Pain and Suffering: Physical and emotional distress.
• Wrongful Death: Compensation for families who lost a loved one.
• Punitive Damages: In cases of egregious misconduct by Pfizer.

Call an Alabama Oxbryta attorney today for a free consultation about potential compensation.

Oxbryta Lawsuit Settlement Information

When Will the Oxbryta Lawsuit Be Settled?

Currently, no official settlement has been announced. Bellwether trials are expected in 2027, which will influence potential global settlements. Factors affecting timelines include:

• Number of cases filed
• Pretrial rulings
• Evidence collection
• Whether the litigation is consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL)

Expected Settlement Amounts for Oxbryta Lawsuits?

Since the lawsuits over Oxbryta (voxelotor) are still relatively new and no settlements have been publicly finalized, exact payout figures remain speculative.

However, based on what attorneys are projecting and comparing to similar pharmaceutical liability cases, here are the likely ranges:

Factors influencing settlements include the severity of injuries, medical costs, lost income, and strength of expert testimony.

What Are the Attorney Fees in the Oxbryta Lawsuit?

At Fob James Law Firm, we work on a contingency-fee-basis. This means we only get paid a percentage of the recovery if we successfully resolve your case.

• You pay nothing unless we win your case.
• Our fees are 33–40%, lower than other firms charging 45% in similar litigation.

Call 205-407-6009 to speak with an experienced Oxbryta lawsuit attorney.

Why Hire Fob James Law Firm for Your Oxbryta Claim?

Choosing the right law firm can make all the difference in your case. At Fob James Law Firm, we bring:

• Experience in defective drug cases: Our team has handled complex pharmaceutical and mass tort litigation.
• Local knowledge of Alabama law: We understand the courts, judges, and procedures that affect your claim.
• Personalized Attention: We treat every client like family, not a file number.
• Extensive Resources: Medical experts, investigators, and advanced technology to build a strong case.
• No fees unless we win: You owe nothing out of pocket unless we recover compensation for you.

We are committed to fighting for justice for Alabama families harmed by Oxbryta.

Oxbryta Lawsuit Updates

Our attorneys closely follow developments in the Oxbryta litigation and strive to provide monthly litigation updates.

If you have questions about litigation updates, call our Oxbryta lawsuit lawyers at 205-407-6009.

Last Updated: September 2, 2025

Key Next Steps in the Oxbryta Litigation (September 2, 2025)

Consolidation Talk and Multi-Plaintiff Filings (Apr 11 – Apr 16, 2025)

Early April saw momentum build. On April 11, U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson accepted a second federal Oxbryta complaint—a joint claim by four former users—bringing it under the same roof as the Allen case and noting that a single judge can prevent duplicate discovery and inconsistent rulings. Four days later, on April 15, a California widow filed a 12-count wrongful-death and medical-malpractice action that faults two Bay Area hospital networks along with Pfizer and Global Blood Therapeutics for her husband’s fatal crisis. The next day, April 16, another Oakland suit broadened the roster of defendants to additional Sutter-affiliated hospitals and reiterated claims of defective design and failure to warn. 

With at least eight suits already on record—two in federal court and, six in California state court and more arriving every week, the plaintiffs’ bar is circulating a draft motion urging the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate the litigation, most recommending Judge Thompson’s Northern District of California courtroom as the venue. Lawyers expect the JPML to hear the petition in the second half of 2025.

Trial Date Set: Jun 7, 2027 (Mar 1, 2025)

On March 1, 2025, a U.S. District Judge (N.D. Cal.) entered the first scheduling order in Allen v. Pfizer, locking in June 7, 2027, for the opening bellwether. The court blocked out 12–15 trial days and warned lawyers that no continuances will be granted absent truly extraordinary circumstances. Fact discovery is slated to run for roughly 18 months, with expert reports and Daubert motions squeezed into the first quarter of 2027. Because bellwethers often set the bargaining range for later settlements, both sides now view the date as a hard target: plaintiffs must marshal internal emails that allegedly show Pfizer downplayed vaso-occlusive-crisis data, while the defense races to undermine medical-causation theories. Either way, real jury feedback is just over two years away.

Inconclusive New Study Fuels Both Sides (Feb 3, 2025)

On February 3, 2025, ASH published a brief research letter that followed 60 former Oxbryta users treated at three U.S. sickle-cell centers. Only 28 patients remained on therapy at the 12-month mark; the other 32 had either stopped the drug or skipped follow-up visits, most citing renewed or worsening vaso-occlusive pain. Among the patients who stayed on treatment, investigators saw no clear drop in crisis frequency and only modest hemoglobin gains—results the authors called difficult to interpret because of high attrition.

Defense counsel now points to the small sample and missing data as proof that real-world evidence is messy, while plaintiffs highlight a 53 % discontinuation rate to argue the medicine was poorly tolerated. A separate commentary later that month in the American Journal of Hematology stressed that the recall shows why accelerated approvals built on surrogate markers must be backed quickly by hard-outcome trials.

Statute-of-Limitations Battles Begin (Jan 8, 2025)

At a case-management conference, Pfizer moved to strike portions of the early complaints, arguing that California’s two-year personal injury deadline had already run for crises and strokes that preceded the September 26, 2024, recall. Plaintiffs immediately filed an amended pleading that leans on fraudulent concealment and delayed-discovery doctrines. They point to recently released emails in which company scientists allegedly flagged elevated stroke rates as far back as 2022—proof, they say, that key safety data were hidden from doctors and the public. Because concealment can pause a statute until the danger is reasonably knowable, Judge Trina Thompson set a separate briefing schedule on the tolling issue. Her ruling will determine whether hundreds of pre-recall injuries survive. 

A Wave of Additional Claims (Nov 19 – Dec 30, 2024)

The litigation snowballed through late November. On Nov 19, 2024, the EMA formally voted to follow the CHMP’s recommendation and pull the drug’s license. That same week, more product-liability cases landed in California federal court, and a wrongful-death filing in Illinois highlighted 2023 internal analyses that allegedly showed higher stroke rates on voxelotor. By Dec 30, 2024, commentators were already calling the recall inevitable, pointing to the earlier NICE doubts and to mounting clinical-trial dropout rates that hinted at tolerability problems.

Filing the First Cases (Nov 1 – Nov 9, 2024)

Legal action followed fast. On Nov 1, 2024, two families in Illinois and California filed state-court complaints alleging defective design, failure to warn, and negligent marketing. A federal complaint arrived on Nov 9, 2024, describing a man who started Oxbryta in August and suffered multiple crises plus a stroke within weeks. The suit accused Pfizer of knowing about the risks long before the recall yet keeping doctors in the dark. 

Europe Suspends the License (Sept 26, 2024)

Only hours after the FDA alert, the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended an immediate suspension of Oxbryta’s marketing authorization across the European Union. The CHMP cited the same registry data and the pediatric deaths. Effective that day, no new patients in the EU could start Oxbryta, and current users were to be switched to other therapies as soon as safely possible.

The Domino Falls: Worldwide Withdrawal (Sept 25-26, 2024)

Sept 25, 2024 – Pfizer issued a voluntary global recall, saying new evidence showed that the overall balance of risks and benefits is no longer favorable.

Sept 26, 2024 – The FDA backed the move with a public safety alert. The agency told doctors to stop prescribing Oxbryta and advised patients to talk with their providers about alternate care. The notice confirmed higher VOC rates and more deaths in both post-marketing trials and real-world studies.

The recall also halted every active clinical trial and expanded-access program. Pharmacies were told to pull remaining stock, and Pfizer set up a hotline for returns and refunds.

Troubling Safety Signals Emerge (Summer 2024)

In mid-2024, two separate registry studies spotted a higher-than-expected rate of vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) among people taking Oxbryta compared with their own baseline before treatment. Meanwhile, an ongoing pediatric study, HOPE-Kids 2, logged eight deaths in the active-drug arm versus two in the placebo group. These numbers were small, yet they cut at the heart of the drug’s purpose: preventing crises rather than making them more likely.

First Clouds on the Horizon (2023 – Early 2024)

Regulators outside the United States began to question whether the drug’s benefits justified its cost—and potential risks. In July 2023, the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued draft guidance refusing to pay for voxelotor inside the National Health Service. The panel noted “weak clinical benefit” and asked for more data. A revised draft in February 2024 again came to the same conclusion. Those documents did not stop sales, but they foreshadowed a rough year ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions About Oxbryta Lawsuits

Is there an Oxbryta class action?

Most Oxbryta cases are being filed as individual lawsuits, though they may be consolidated in the future into a MDL. This allows each plaintiff to pursue compensation based on their unique injuries.

How long do I have to file an Oxbryta lawsuit in Alabama?

Alabama law generally allows two years from the date of injury or death, but exceptions may apply. Contact an attorney quickly to protect your rights.

How much does it cost to hire an Oxbryta lawyer?

We work on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing upfront and nothing at all unless we win your case.

What if I already stopped taking Oxbryta?

You may still qualify for a lawsuit if you suffered injuries after taking the drug. The key factor is whether Oxbryta contributed to your complications.

Contact an Oxbryta Lawyer Near Birmingham, Alabama Today

Don’t wait to explore your legal options. If you or a loved one suffered serious complications after taking Oxbryta, contact Fob James Law Firm today for a free, confidential consultation.

Our experienced Oxbryta injury lawyers in Birmingham, Alabama are ready to evaluate your case, answer your questions, and fight for your rights.

Call us at 205-407-6009 or fill out our online form to get started.

We serve clients throughout Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Mobile, and across the state of Alabama.