According to a lawsuit filed in Sacramento, California against Johnson & Johnson, the company is charged with pushing specific medications on elderly people. Levaquin is claimed to be one of those drugs.
The lawsuit alleges that Johnson & Johnson was involved in a conspiracy with the pharmaceutical consultant Omnicare. The companies allegedly conspired together to encourage senior citizens that were living in nursing homes to buy various medications that are made by Johnson & Johnson such as Levaquin. This is in direct violation of Medicare laws, claims the website ConsumerAffairs.com.
One of the alleged consequences of this apparent conspiracy was that “residents were overcharged for their medications, had additional medications administered and were unlawfully switched to Johnson & Johnson drugs.” This lawsuit also claims that Johnson & Johnson actually paid Omnicare to claim that their drugs like Levaquin were “preferred.” This is what happens when the consultant (like Omnicare) says that the drug in questions is rated highly “for their clinical effectiveness in the geriatric community.”
The drugs specifically involved in the lawsuit are Levaquin, Floxin, Risperdal, Ultram, Duragesic, Procrit and Aciphex.
According to several other lawsuits, which also were filed against Johnson & Johnson, Levaquin was proven to be responsible for ruptures of the Achilles tendons. Tendon ruptures have been reported in more than 1,044 reports of the tendon problems from a period of 1997 through 2005.
Levaquin lawsuits are mounting and doctors are even starting to get afraid that the drug Levaquin will also create a condition that is being referred to as SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome. Between that and the fear that patients taking Levaquin over a prolonged period of time will become immune to its positive effects should have Johnson & Johnson worried.
