Levaquin Side Effects Lawyers

Lovofloxacin is marketed in the United States by Ortho-McNeil under the trade name Levaquin. It is a 3rd-generation fluoroquinolone antibiotic. Fluoroquinolones are effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria. For this reason, Levaquin is prescribed for a wide range of infections, such as pneumonia and urinary tract infection, until the specific causal organism is identified, and a narrower spectrum antibiotic is substituted. Levofloaxin is also the only respiratory fluoroquinolone currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia (pneumonia acquired in a hospital).

In August 2006, however, the Illinois Attorney General and Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, petitioned the FDA to add a "Black Box Warning" to packaging of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, and to require pharmacists to provide patients with medication guides warning about the risks of tendinitis and tendon rupture associated with use of these drugs. A nonprofit group had petitioned for similar warnings as early as 1996.

After several delays, the FDA finally acquiesced by issuing an alert on July 8, 2008. In addition to recommending the very measures proposed by the aforementioned organizations, the alert urges health care professionals to "consider the potential benefits and risks for each patient" and points out that those over 60 years of age, recipients of heart, kidney, and lung transplants, or those who are concomitantly taking corticosteroids are at further risk of developing fluoroquinolone-associated tendon rupture and tendinitis.

Levofloxacin may be of added concern if one considers that at the time when the FDA's Adverse Events Reporting System's (AERS) database contained reports of 259 cases of tendonitis, 262 cases of tendon ruptures, and 274 cases of other tendon disorders, 61 percent of the tendon ruptures were reportedly caused by Levaquin. This compares with only 23 percent for Cipro, the most widely prescribed fluoroquinolone.

Levaquin side effects are also not limited to tendon injuries. In fact, the list of potential adverse effects resulting from the use of this drug is extensive. For a list of some of the more common serious side effects, please visit www.personalinjury.com's page on fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

If you or a loved has suffered a tendon injury or other Levaquin side effect, you may be entitled to compensation. To find out, contact an experienced pharmaceutical injury attorney.