Lawsuit Win Sets Way for Further Compensations from Levaquin

Levaquin is a 3rd-generation fluoroquinolone antibiotic, manufactured by Ortho-McNeil, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Doctors prescribe Levaquin as an antibiotic to treat bacterial infections in many different parts of the body. It does not work for viral infections (for example, the common cold). While patients taking Levaquin have reported a variety of minor side-effects, common with any medication, the most serious Levaquin side effect reported has been an increased risk of Achilles tendonitis among current and former patients. Several studies published in accredited medical journals have cited case studies in which individuals who have taken Levaquin have been adversely affected by levofloxacin-induced tendonopathy and tendon rupture.

A Minnesota jury recently awarded $1.8 million in the first bellwether Levaquin lawsuit, including $1.1 million in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary for recklessly failing to warn consumers and doctors of about the risk of Levaquin tendon ruptures. The verdict was handed down in December of 2010, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, in a case brought by 82-year-old John Schedin, who suffered an Achilles tendon rupture after taking Levaquin. The case was the first out of nearly 3000 lawsuits over Levaquin to reach a jury.

Shedin’s Levaquin lawsuit is one of six Levaquin cases that were selected for early trials in the MDL, known as bellwether lawsuits. The trials are designed to help the parties’ gauge how juries will respond to similar evidence that will be presented in other cases and to promote the possibility of a Levaquin settlement agreement between the parties. In July 2008, the FDA announced plans to require a "black box" warning on all prescriptions of Levaquin after the consumer group Public Citizen sued the FDA to require the agency to add black-box warnings to all fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The warning will caution patients of the risk of tendonitis and tendon rupture associated with use of the drugs. Although most ruptures frequently involve the Achilles tendon, they can also include ruptures of the shoulder, hand, biceps, and thumbs, according to the FDA.