Patients who have suffered tendon ruptures as a result of the antibiotic Levaquin may soon see their day in court, although a trial scheduled for the 11th of April has been postponed. The trial was delayed in part due to the presiding judge, the Honorable Carol E. Higbee, also working on Accutane trials. The Accutane lawsuits are similar to Levaquin ones in that they involve serious side effects associated with a popular medication.
Levaquin is an antibiotic that has been linked to tendon rupture, a condition common enough that the Food and Drug Administration issued a “black box” warning in 2008, intended to warn potential patients of the dangers associated with the medication. Tendon rupture is a painful condition that necessitates medical treatment – and with medical treatment comes medical bills, something plaintiffs are hoping to gain compensation for in their lawsuits.
There are more than 2,600 Levaquin lawsuits filed nationwide in state and federal courts, with trials concentrated largely in New Jersey, Minnesota, and California. The New Jersey trials are targeting the drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, which has its headquarters in New Jersey. Minnesota is home to nearly a thousand Levaquin lawsuits that have been consolidated in multidistrict litigation, a process similar to class action which will combine pretrial processes and help achieve a quicker conclusion to the trials.
Only one Levaquin lawsuit has reached trial thus far, although despite the delay of the April trial another one is scheduled for the end of May. John Schedin received $1.8 million in damages in a jury trial that took place in Minnesota, potentially setting the tone for other Levaquin trials that will take place in the future. Most cases allege that Johnson & Johnson was aware of Levaquin tendon rupture potential and that the company failed to adequately warn patients of these potential side effects.
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