Plaintiffs Arthur and Patricia Ilardi are the most
recent victims to take Ortho-McNeil-Janssen and Johnson & Johnson to trial.
Ortho-McNeil is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of
Levaquin. Levaquin, an antibiotic prescribed to treat life-threatening and
drug-resistant bacterial infections, has been linked to tendon rupture since
1997.
In July 2008, Mr. Ilardi took Levaquin over the
course of several weeks. Ilardi's treatment coincided with an order from the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add a black-box (elevated) warning to
Levaquin stating the product's risk of tendon rupture. Unfortunately for
Ilardi, the warning had not yet been implemented. As a result of taking
Levaquin, Ilardi claims he was rendered "sick, sore, lame and
disabled" by "serious injuries," including Levaquin tendon rupture.
John Schedin was the first Levaquin victim to go
take his case to trial. The court found in favor of Schedin and awarded him
$1.8 million in damages. However, the second major Levaquin lawsuit favored
Johnson & Johnson, updating the court score to 1-1. An upcoming case in New
Jersey is expected to break the tie, making this bellwether trial the case to
watch.
As of October 2011, thousands of other Levaquin
lawsuits have been filed in federal and state courts. In mass tort Levaquin lawsuits,
the bellwether trial acts as a type of benchmark for future cases: if the New
Jersey court finds in favor of the plaintiff, it may mark serious trouble for
Johnson & Johnson.
Ilardi Case
Addresses Levaquin Tendon Rupture
The Ilardis first filed suit against Ortho-McNeil-Janssen
in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on December 13, 2010. Their case
alleges that Mr. Ilardi sustained permanent and severe injuries as a result of
taking Levaquin. Ilardi was not the only victim: as a result of his injuries,
his wife claims loss of companionship, society, services and consortium.
Initially, the Ilardi lawsuit also named Mr.
Ilardi's physician, Mai Liu, M.D., and medical practice, Nassau-Queens
Pulmonary Associates, P.C., as defendants. However, on September 14, 2011,
Ilardi voluntarily dropped the suit against Dr. Liu and Nassau-Queens Pulmonary
Associates. Their case has now been moved to multidistrict litigation (MDL), as
Ilardi's claim exceeds $75,000, there is complete diversity of citizenship
amongst the parties, and the Ilardi case is similar to other lawsuits in the
Levaquin MDL.
