Johnson & Johnson is facing a new antibiotic nerve damage lawsuit after a patient allegedly suffered permanent nerve damage after taking Levaquin. This medication is one of the company’s most popular medications which is part of the fluoroquinolone drug family.

Levaquin and other fluoroquinolones have been allegedly inducing antibiotic nerve damage in patients and is a leading chronic health problem.

North Carolina plaintiff Timothy R. is one of these patients. He filed this antibiotic nerve damage lawsuit after experiencing the complication allegedly as a result of Levaquin.

After being prescribed the drug in April 2011, Timothy soon developed symptoms of nerve damage. He was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy and continues to contend with the condition.

Peripheral neuropathy occurs when the peripheral nerves, the nerves connecting the brain and spinal cord to the body, become damaged or destroyed.

When this occurs the brain cannot properly communicate with the rest of the body, which can disrupt muscle movement and cause unusual sensations in the arms and legs.

Overview of Antibiotic Nerve Damage

During the time Timothy was taking Levaquin, the warning label stated that peripheral neuropathy and other forms of antibiotic nerve damage were “rare” events and could be resolved by discontinuing the medication.

However peripheral neuropathy is a permanent condition, and often continues to degenerate nerves at an aggressive pace.

In addition, recent studies have suggested that antibiotic nerve damage from fluoroquinolones may be more common than the warning label described.

The Levaquin label allegedly inaccurately described the risk of antibiotic nerve damage from September 2004 to August 2013, which coincided with when Timothy took Levaquin.

Levaquin was approved by the FDA on Decemeber 20, 1996, and is a second generation fluoroquinolone. The drug is prescribed for a wide variety of bacterial infections and is quite popular among patients, accounting for 6.5 percent of Johnson & Johnson’s total revenue in 2007.

Even though Levaquin and other fluoroquinolones are highly effective in their treatment mechanism, these antibiotics have been recently linked to serious side effects.

During August 2013, the FDA sent out a public warning regarding Levaquin and other fluoroquinolones potentially causing serious antibiotic nerve damage within a week or less of taking the medication.

Johnson & Johnson allegedly knew of this correlation for years, but failed to disclose the risk to the public and medical community.

Timothy insists that he never would have used Levaquin if had known of the risk of peripheral neuropathy.

The Levaquin Antibiotic Nerve Damage Lawsuit is Case No. 3:16-cv-04896, in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey, Civil Division.