A quinolone peripheral neuropathy lawsuit claims that Levaquin caused a woman to develop painful and permanent nerve damage. This is one of many Levaquin lawsuits Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of Levaquin, has faced during the 2014 year.

Plaintiff Wendy G. filed the Levaquin lawsuit on Dec. 12 in California federal court after using Levaquin for a year. In addition to J&J, she has named McKesson Corp. and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals as defendants in this peripheral neuropathy lawsuit. 

The Levaquin lawsuit alleges that J&J failed to adequately warn users, including the plaintiff, about peripheral neuropathy side effects. The warning label for Levaquin allegedly misled Wendy and caused her to believe that any peripheral neuropathy side effects were rare and would subside once drug use stopped, according to the quinolone peripheral neuropathy lawsuit.

The Levaquin lawsuit claims that J&J knew or should have known about quinolone peripheral neuropathy for years before Wendy’s nerve damage from the Levaquin drug. In 2002 and 2003, J&J were notified that numerous quinolone peripheral neuropathy complaints had been filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that the condition sometimes “persisted long after the drug had been discontinued,” according to the Levaquin lawsuit.

However, the defendants did not change Levaquin’s label until 2013, which finally warned users about long-term quinolone peripheral neuropathy. However, the defendants allegedly failed to adequately inform the medical community of this label change and “buried” information about peripheral neuropathy side effects “at the bottom of a long list of adverse reactions,” according to this and other Levaquin peripheral neuropathy lawsuits.

According Wendy, “Levaquin is defective, dangerous to human health, unfit and unsuitable to be marketed and sold in commerce, and lacked proper warning and directions as to the dangers associated with its use,” or so she claims in the quinolone peripheral neuropathy lawsuit. 

Quinolone Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is a painful and potentially permanently debilitating disease. It affects the peripheral nervous system, which carries messages from the brain to the rest of the body. The condition often begins in the hands and/or feet before the nerve damage spreads to the rest of the limbs.

Peripheral neuropathy causes burning, numbness, and tingling in the limbs, leading to muscle weakness, sensitivity to touch and temperature, and lightheadedness.

One study published in early 2014 suggested that Levaquin and other quinolone drugs could double the risk of developing peripheral neuropathy. 

Levaquin has been an extremely profitable drug for J&J, making over $1.3 billion in 2011 alone. It is a strong antibiotic that has become one of the most used quinolone drugs since its introduction to the American market in 1996. It can be used to treat infections like sinus infections, urinary tract infections, and lung infections.

Quinolone Peripheral Neuropathy Lawsuit

This Levaquin lawsuit accuses the defendants of several claims, including: strict liability, failure to warn, negligence, breach of warranty, fraud, negligent representation, and fraudulent concealment.

Over the last year, many quinolone peripheral neuropathy lawsuits have been filed against J&J and the manufacturers of other quinolone drugs such as Avelox and Cipro.

This Levaquin Peripheral Neuropathy Lawsuit is Case No. 3:14-cv-05440, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.