Quinolone antibiotics such as Cipro, Avelox, and Levaquin can have very dangerous side effects. In certain cases, recent medical research has linked quinolones to severe ocular (eye) injuries, including uveitis and retinal detachment.

What are Quinolones?

Quinolones are broad-spectrum antibiotic medications promoted as a treatment for common bronchitis, sinusitis infections, and acquired pneumonia, but only in limited circumstances after other antibiotics have failed. Quinolones are typically a drug of last resort because they interact with other drugs and even supplements. Quinolone antibiotics function by disrupting DNA replication and cell division within bacteria.

Quinolone Eye Injuries

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2012 actually linked the quinolone drug Avelox to uveitis, a serious eye disease. Uveitis is an eye disease (also known as irisitis) that causes swelling and irritation of the uvea, the middle layer of the eye that supplies most of the blood to the retina. Symptoms of uveitis include:

• Blurry vision
• Dark, floating spots in vision
• Eye pain
• Redness of the eye
• Sensitivity to light

Besides uveitis, quinolone side effects can cause retinal detachment. Retinal detachment, which starts as the appearance of lines, dots or “floaters” across the eye, can cause permanent blindness in some cases if it’s not surgically treated within a few days.

Retinal detachment is characterized by a separation of the retina from the underlying tissue in the eye. Among the different types of retinal detachment, rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) is the most common. RRD results from retinal breaks caused by vitreoretinal traction. Risk factors commonly associated with retinal detachment include advancing age, previous cataract surgery, myopia, and trauma.

Patients generally present with symptoms such as light flashes, floaters, peripheral visual field loss and blurred vision. Retinal detachment is a serious medical emergency that generally requires prompt surgical intervention.

Quinolone Eye Injury Lawsuits

Many quinolone antibiotic users who have been left with serious and permanent vision problems, like uveitis or retinal detachment, are considering filing quinolone lawsuits against the manufacturers of Cipro, Levaquin, and Avelox, alleging the drug makers’ failed to research the side effects of their antibiotics or warn about the risk of these serious quinolone eye problems.