Products Liability
Levaquin peripheral neuropathy lawsuits demanded compensation for injuries caused by this drug against the drug makers. The plaintiffs were victims who took Levaquin and now suffer from peripheral neuropathy, a painfully debilitating injury that causes nerve damage.
These started out as lawsuits for tendon injuries. Those were soon replaced by claims that Levaquin causes peripheral neuropathy, aortic aneurysm, and aortic dissection.
There may also be some medical malpractice cases for over prescribing fluroquinolones. Today, it is clear that doctors ignored the risks when prescribing these drugs.
Our lawyers are not taking these cases in 2023.
What Is Levaquin Used For?
Levaquin, along with Cipro and the generic drug levofloxacin, are antibiotics primarily used to treat specific bacterial infections of the lung, sinus, skin and urinary tract. Antibiotics, as we all know, are used to fight bacteria but are not effective against viruses.
Antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern, and overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics promotes the spread of antibiotic resistance. Levaquin was marketed as a cure-all for infectious diseases, which many thought misled and misinformed the medical community and the public.
Fluoroquinolones, including Levaquin, were developed to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but their overuse led to an increase in fluoroquinolone-resistant bacteria. Concerns about antibiotic misuse led to task forces and labeling changes, but fluoroquinolone prescribing continued to increase, potentially leading to more resistant bacteria.
Levaquin was a highly successful antibiotic drug marketed by Johnson & Johnson and its affiliates, which generated billions of dollars in revenue. The drug was aggressively marketed and its indications were expanded over time. Our lawyers have had it prescribed for bronchitis because Levaquin and Cipro were generally thought to be among the best antibiotics available by tablet or injection.
No one is worried that these drugs don’t work for most people. They do. But they come with real risks that these drug makers refused to highlight.
In 2018, Janssen Pharmaceuticals decided to stop making Levaquin. It will still be available generically as levofloxacin. Not for nothing, generic drug manufacturers are much harder to sue.
What Is Peripheral Neuropathy?
Peripheral means away from the center of the body. Neuropathy is an impairment of the nerves. Putting the two together, peripheral neuropathy is a nerve injury that involves the hands or feet. This condition can cause pain, tingling, and numbness in the longest nerves in the body.
So peripheral neuropathy is a dysfunction that occurs in the nerves that generally innervate the arms and legs. These peripheral nerves are differentiated from the central nerves that go from the brain and the spinal cord. Outside the spinal cord is the nerve trunks and then, ultimately, the peripheral nerves. These tend to be smaller nerves. But they are still important nerves that wreak havoc on the body when they are compromised.
Who Makes Levaquin?
Brand-name Levaquin is an antibiotic manufactured by Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals (part of Johnson & Johnson). Generic levofloxacin is manufactured by Vistakon Pharmaceuticals. Cipro is manufactured by Bayer/Schering. What do they both J&J and Bayer have in common? They both make a ton of money, and they both are regular players in product liability cases.
What Is The Status of Levaquin Litigation?
Levaquin just got through an MDL for tendon injuries. (2023 Update: we are no longer taking tendon injuries or any other Levaquin claims.) Over the course of that litigation, evidence was discovered suggesting that Levaquin’s drug maker knew as early as 1996 – and certainly by 2001 — that this drug could cause peripheral neuropathy and failed to do anything.
There were a lot of claims against J&J involving Levaquin. But, ultimately, this was a warnings case. The warning label for Levaquin from September 2004 through August 2013 downplayed the risk of peripheral neuropathy. It said peripheral neuropathy after Levaquin use was rare and could be reversed by discontinuing the drug. But the real truth may be that these problems are not all that rare and peripheral neuropathy is not reversible even if the patient stops taking the drug.
Today, the label says that cases of “sensory or sensorimotor axonal polyneuropathy affecting small and/or large axons resulting in paresthesias, hypoesthesias, dysesthesias, and weakness have been reported in patients receiving fluoroquinolones, including levofloxacin.
Symptoms may occur soon after initiation of levofloxacin and may be irreversible. Levofloxacin should be discontinued immediately if the patient experiences symptoms of neuropathy including pain, burning, tingling, numbness, and/or weakness or other alterations of sensation including light touch, pain, temperature, position sense, and vibratory sensation.”
Do I Have a Levaquin Claim?
Our law firm is not taking new cases, in part because the statue of limitations has passed on many of these claims.
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