More Levaquin Plaintiffs Join Lawsuits Filed in Illinois
St. Clair County, Ill., courts are busy this week as more plaintiffs joined a lawsuit filed against Johnson & Johnson, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development. The suit alleges that the controversial antibiotic Levaquin caused the plaintiffs to suffer from tendon damage.
All of the plaintiffs are saying that after taking Levaquin, which is usually prescribed to treat upper respiratory infections and bacterial infections, they suffered from tendon ruptures and injuries. Each plaintiff claims that they did know about the potential for tendon damage before he or she took the medication. They also say they didn’t know that the risk was even higher in patients 60 and older or if they were taking corticosteroids.
The plaintiffs who have joined in the Levaquin lawsuit include Allan Booth Jr. of Rhode Island, Michael Faulkenberry of South Carolina, Carol Leflay of Arkansas, Constance J. Lund of Wisconsin, Peter Pearson of New York, Walter Prim of New York and Teresa Tacey of Michigan, court documents show.
Levaquin was first brought to the American market in 1997; at that time, warnings about the side effects to the tendons were required to be on all fluoroquinolone labels. That is not what happened, though. The warnings ended up being hidden in a long list of possible side effects instead. According to the plaintiffs, the warnings didn’t even mention that the potential for tendon injury increased by three times for people older than 60 and in those who were also taking corticosteroid therapy.
To make matters worse for the manufacturers, Johnson & Johnson actually seems to have marketed the drug specifically to seniors who were suffering from upper respiratory infections. This is significant because those patients with the infections were also likely taking corticosteroid to treat their infections also. The complaint specifically says that "more disturbingly, Defendants' promotional campaign was themed on Levaquin's excellent safety profile and failed to disclose the risks of tendon injury."
