Levaquin Lawsuits Hit or Miss

Plaintiffs in Levaquin-related cases were hopeful after a Levaquin lawyer netted his 82-year-old client a settlement of more than a million dollars - $1.8 million, to be precise – in a Levaquin-related lawsuit against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. The man had ruptured both of his Achilles tendons after taking the antibiotic, and this success encouraged many of the more than 2,500 Levaquin plaintiffs, reassuring them that their cases could be successful.

However, a more recent case may have put a damper on the hopes of some plaintiffs. Levaquin plaintiff Calvin Christensen, who ruptured one of his Achilles tendons after taking Levaquin, lost his case after it was determined that the warnings to him had been adequate. His lawyer argued that this was not the case – that the print on Levaquin’s extensive warning label was too small for the elderly to read, especially before the 2008 Food and Drug Administration mandate that the print be enlarged specifically for more elderly patients. He also argued that since the drug was marketed towards the elderly, this type enlargement should have happened long before the mandate.

In addition, the lawyer asserted that, had the patient’s doctor been properly advised of the possible side effects associated with the medication, the patient could have been adequately informed about the Levaquin side effects and could have made a more informed decision on whether or not to take the antibiotic. However, since it appeared that Mr. Christensen’s physician was not well-versed in the specific side effects of the drug, or at least did not inform his patient of them, he was not properly warned.

Calvin Christensen allegedly suffers from “permanent instability and loss of balance” as a direct result of
the rupture of his Achilles tendon. This is not uncommon in the case of tendon rupture, a common side effect of the antibiotic sold under the brand name Levaquin by drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, a pharmaceuticals giant.

Around 1,000 of the 2,500 pending Levaquin lawsuits have been consolidated in multidistrict litigation in a district court in Minnesota, where they are being overseen by the Honorable Judge John R. Tunheim. Around 1,500 more cases are still pending in other states.