A Massachusetts woman has filed a Levaquin antibiotic peripheral neuropathy lawsuit, alleging the drug maker failed to properly warn patients as to the dangers of using this medication.

Levaquin is the brand name for the antibiotic levofloxacin and was approved by the FDA in 1996.  As a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic, it is used to treat certain bacterial infections.

Levaquin is manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. In 2007, Levaquin was ranked in the top twenty of 200 drugs that were prescribed in the U.S.

Plaintiff Elizabeth C. was prescribed Levaquin in Dec. 2004.  Shortly after, she began experiencing symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.

According to her antibiotic peripheral neuropathy lawsuit, Elizabeth claims that scientific evidence has established a clear association between Levaquin and an increased risk of long-term and sometime irreversible peripheral neuropathy – a risk that the drug maker should have warned about.

Specifically, Elizabeth’s lawsuits points out that the warning label for Levaquin during the period Sept. 2004 through Aug. 2013 misled the plaintiff and the medical community by incorrectly advising that peripheral neuropathy associated with Levaquin was “rare” and in any case could be avoided by discontinuing the drug upon the onset of certain symptoms.

However, the lawsuit contends that the onset of peripheral neuropathy is often rapid and discontinuation of the drug will not ensure that the peripheral neuropathy is reversible.

Symptoms of Antibiotic Peripheral Neuropathy

Fluoroquinolones, like Levaquin, have long been associated with serious side effects, including antibiotic peripheral neuropathy.

Peripheral neuropathy is a nerve disorder that can occur in both the arms and the legs. Symptoms of peripheral neuropathy include:

• Paralysis
• Tingling
• Numbness
• Weakness
• Loss of reflexes
• Burning
• Shooting pain
• Change in the sense of body position
• Change in sensation to touch, pain or temperature

Antibiotic peripheral neuropathy causes symptoms as it damages the nerves that send information between the brain and spinal cord and the rest of the body. The damage interrupts this connection, and the varying symptoms of peripheral neuropathy depend on which nerves the damage affects.

The condition can be permanent or long-lasting in nature, causing significant physical pain and mental anguish, diminished enjoyment of life and the need for medical treatment, monitoring and additional medications.

Levaquin Antibiotic Peripheral Neuropathy Lawsuits

New FDA warnings remove prior claims that Levaquin antibiotic peripheral neuropathy rarely occurs, and indicate that problems may affect users for years after they stop taking the drug. In many cases the peripheral neuropathy causes permanent disability and limitations for the remainder of the user’s life.

Complaints allege that if the manufacturers had provided accurate and complete information earlier, many former users may have avoided permanent nerve damage following use of the antibiotics.

For Janssen Pharmaceutical’s alleged deception in marketing Levaquin, Elizabeth C. is seeking the full range of damages including general, economic, compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages, along with medical expenses and legal costs. She has demanded a jury trial.

The Levaquin Antibiotic Peripheral Neuropathy Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-cv-04902 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Civil Division.