Levaquin, a popular and strong antibiotic medication used to treat common bacterial infections, has been linked with a significantly heightened risk of aortic dissection, a serious side effect that can even become life-threatening.

Some patients are filing lawsuits over major Levaquin side effects, alleging they were inadequately warned. If you or someone you love has suffered because the increased risk of aortic dissection caused by Levaquin, you may be able to pursue litigation.

Basics of Levaquin

Levaquin is known as a fluoroquinolone drug, which are broad-spectrum antibiotics that can be used to treat a variety of infections. Levaquin is used to treat common bacterial infections, including pneumonia, urinary tract infections, bronchitis, typhoid fever and many others.

Unfortunately, Levaquin and other fluoroquinolones like it have been linked with some serious side effects, including an increased risk of aortic dissection, which may even prove fatal. A growing number of patients are coming forward with allegations that they were inadequately warned about side effects.

Risk of Aortic Dissection from Levaquin

An aortic aneurysm is a serious and painful complication in which the aorta bulges as the artery’s walls weaken. This often causes chest pain, and has the added risk of a potential rupture.

Patients also face an increased risk of aortic dissection. An aortic dissection involves the layers of the aorta breaking down, dissecting the inner and middle layers, which can cause rupture or leaking.

This is potentially more dangerous than an aortic aneurysm, and can lead to heart attack, stroke, paralysis and other major problems. Both of these antibiotic side effects are quite serious and usually require surgery.

The risk of these side effects is significant. Indeed, recent studies have found that users of Levaquin and other fluoroquinolones face somewhere between a 124 percent and 143 percent increased risk of aortic dissection or aortic aneurysm.

The risk of aortic dissection is greater in the first 60 days of use, though patients continue to face these risks long after those first two months.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a formal advisory in May 2016 ordering for the boxed warnings to be updated. In July 2016, the FDA further noted that the risk of aortic dissection posed by Levaquin and other fluoroquinolones generally outweighs their benefits.

Filing a Levaquin Lawsuit

Manufacturers of fluoroquinolone drugs like Levaquin have been hit with dozens of lawsuits so far. These lawsuits claim that these drugs caused serious or debilitating injuries, and that drug manufacturers failed to give adequate warning about these potentially serious antibiotic side effects to the public and to the medical community.

If you or someone you love has been prescribed Levaquin or another fluoroquinolone drug and suffered because of the increased risk of aortic dissection, you may be able to file a Levaquin lawsuit against the drug’s manufacturers.

Filing a Levaquin lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by antibiotic side effects, or bring a loved one back to life, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages.