Carey & Danis, a law firm, has filed four civil lawsuits on behalf of twenty plaintiffs against Johnson & Johnson and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical (Ortho-McNeil), the makers of the antibiotic Levaquin, as well as the Walgreen Co.(Walgreen), which sells the drug.
Levaquin ( levofloxacin) belongs to a family of potent antibiotics, the fluoroquinolones, that has been linked to serious side effects, including tendinitis and tendon rupture.
The lawsuits allege that Johnson & Johnson and Ortho-McNeil promoted Levaquin as a safe and effective treatment for lung, sinus, skin and urinary tract infections. However, the suits claim, these defendants knew for years that Levaquin causes tendinitis and severe tendon rupture at rates higher than those seen with other antibiotics.
Moreover, it is alleged that the defendants tried to thwart early efforts to warn patients of the risks by manipulating study data and that they downplayed the risks to physicians.
The lawsuits assert state law claims against Johnson & Johnson and Ortho-McNeil of strict liability, negligence, breach of express and implied warranties, violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act and unjust enrichment. Against the Walgreen the suits assert claims of failure to warn and negligence.
Corey Sullivan of Carey & Danis, said: “The makers of Levaquin buried the warning of tendon injuries even as the number of adverse events associated with Levaquin exploded. Even today, the drug label fails to alert physicians and prescribing healthcare providers that Levaquin is more toxic to tendons than the other fluoroquinolones available on the US market.”