Mathew G. Howell is a 26-year-old man who has filed a Levaquin lawsuit for being disabled after suffering from severe tendon damage that began only six days after beginning a Levaquin regimen. Howell has since filed a Levaquin lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, the makers of the drug, in U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota on March 28, 2012.
In his complaint, Howell, who is an accountant from Gilbert, Arizona, claims that he was prescribed Levaquin as a treatment for a urological infection. He started taking the pill on April 3, 2010 and stopped by April 9, 2010 after experiencing “severe and debilitating pain in the tendons and muscles of his legs and calves.” By April 10, Howell was taken to the Oakley Urgent Care Clinic in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he received his diagnosis of tendonapathy, nerve and muscle damage and tachycardia. He is now required to go through physical therapy as part of his ongoing treatment. Like so many other Levaquin lawsuits, Howell’s lawsuit is alleging that Johnson & Johnson didn’t properly warn him of the risks involved in taking the drug beforehand.
Levaquin is an antibiotic medication that is mostly used to treat various infections including upper respiratory infections and sinusitis. Warnings on the drug’s labels have been updated to include the fact that patients aged 65 and older are at a higher risk of developing tendon ruptures as well as those patients taking corticosteroids. Research has proven that the controversial antibiotic can cause various adverse side effects like the ruptures and rotator cuff tears, which is why many Levaquin patients have filed drug injury lawsuits, and the FDA issued a black box warning against the drug. Black box warnings are the strongest warnings the FDA can give.
