A man from Arkansas filed a Levaquin tendon rupture lawsuit on February 23, 2012 after he claims he suffered from a tear in his right Achilles tendon that was caused by his taking the controversial antibiotic back in 2009.
According to Keith Hoover’s lawsuit, the makers of Levaquin, drug giant Johnson & Johnson, failed to properly warn the public and healthcare professionals about the serious side effects linked to the drug. Some of those side effects include tendon ruptures, rotator cuff injuries and ruptures of the adductor longus, peroneous brevis, extensor pollicis longus and the long head of the biceps, according to the suit.
Hoover’s lawsuit is accusing Johnson & Johnson of purposely and willfully hiding the side effects linked to Levaquin, including tendon ruptures, because it would be bad for sales. Specifically, Hoover is claiming that the company “resisted calls to adequately inform patients and the medical community of the drug’s significant risks while also marketing its product as a first-line therapy for common bronchitis and sinusitis infections, though safer antibiotics are available.” The lawsuit continues by stating that “Levaquin is more toxic to tendons than any other fluoroquinolone and non- fluoroquinolone antibiotic available on the U.S. market.”
Hoover’s lawsuit is among many others that claim similar tendon ruptures by plaintiffs. Johnson & Johnson has also been accused of hiding the fact that patients older than 65 and those taking corticosteroids are more likely to suffer from tendon ruptures than patients not taking the drug. The drug makers have also been accused of marketing Levaquin specifically to the seniors — the very group to which the drugs are the most dangerous. Eventually the FDA issued a black box warning against Levaquin in 2009, but for many patients, it was too little, too late. Once the most popular treatment for bacterial, respiratory and urinary tract infections, Levaquin is now the subject of numerous lawsuits instead.
