Minnesota Levaquin MDL Keeps Growing
The Minnesota-based Levaquin MDL — you know, the one that was previously reported as adding another plaintiff — has just added another one, and a jury trial has been demanded.
Plaintiff Thomas Lutsch’s lawsuit, which was filed on December 13, 2011, is claiming that drug giants Johnson & Johnson and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc., the makers of Levaquin, did not properly warn the public and healthcare professionals of the dangers linked to the drug. Levaquin is known to cause patients to suffer from tendon injuries and ruptures. Thomas Lutsch is a Missouri resident who was prescribed Levaquin by his doctor and has suffered from painful tendon ruptures as a result of it.
According to Lutsch’s complaint, Levaquin has been linked to tendonitis ever since 1983, but the FDA didn’t require a warning about the drug until 1997. The complaint continues to claim that even on the warning label for Levaquin, the side effects are hidden inside of the lengthy list of other side effects. Lutsch’s claim also points out how the manufacturers didn’t make an effort to highlight the serious risks of tendonitis in their other communications to doctors and patients. In fact, Lutsch is claiming that the manufacturers marketed the drug as an antibiotic for common ailments like bronchitis, even though the FDA approved it only as a means of treating serious infections.
This newest lawsuit now has been added to the thousands that have been filed across the country. Not many Levaquin cases have made it to a jury yet, though. To date, three cases have been decided on; one of those cases resulted in an almost $2 million award for the plaintiff, John Schedin, who also suffered from tendon ruptures after taking Levaquin.
