First Levaquin Tendon Tear Lawsuit Scheduled For Trial August 2010
Published: February 23rd, 2009 • Comments: 7
U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim, who is overseeing all federal lawsuits alleging tendon ruptures from Levaquin, has issued a pretrial order which identifies 15 cases that will begin case-specific discovery and sets out a discovery schedule where the first trial should begin on or about August 2, 2010.
Levaquin (levofloxacin), which is manufactured by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, is an antibiotic belonging to a group of drugs known as fluoroquinolones. It is approved for treatment of bacterial infections of the urinary tract, upper respiratory tract and prostatis, with annual sales of over $2.3 billion.
Side effects of Levaquin have been found to increase the risk of tendon damage. The FDA required that a “black box” warning be added to all of the antibiotics in this class in July 2008, warning users that they should contact their doctor immediately upon noticing any signs of tendon problems so that the medication can be stopped to reduce the risk of a tendon tear.
The Levaquin tendon side effects have mainly involved the Achilles tendon in the ankle, but have also occurred in the knee, shoulder, hand and elbow.
Johnson & Johnson currently faces a growing number of Levaquin tendon tear lawsuits which allege that inadequate warnings were provided about the risk of tendon damage, which caused many patients to not recognize the early signs of an injury and prevent an actual tear of the tendon.
In federal court, the Levaquin litigation has been consolidated and centralized before Judge Tunheim in an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The cases are being coordinated for pretrial litigation to prevent duplicative discovery and inconsistent pretrial rulings.
In an order issued February 20, 2009, Judge Tunheim identified 15 Levaquin tendon lawsuits which have been designated as “Phase I” cases, where case-specific discovery will begin. The other Levaquin lawsuits in the MDL will only have limited discovery at this time, including an exchange of fact sheets and medical records, while the parties focus on preparing the “Phase I” cases for early trials.
According to the schedule laid out in the order, all discovery depositions of plaintiffs, treating physicians and fact witnesses in the “Phase I” cases must be completed no later than September 1, 2009.
The parties have then been directed to meet no later than September 15, 2009, to discuss the scope of the bellwether cases, which will be the first of lawsuits to go to trial next year.
Bellwether trials are selected in complex consolidated litigation as the first cases to go to trial, where the issues presented to the jury will be representative of other issues that will come up throughout the cases involved in the litigation.
The lawsuits selected from the “Phase I” cases for bellwether trials, will go through expert discovery toward the end of this year and early next year. Pretrial dispositive motions and Daubert motions on the qualifications of the experts must be filed and served by April 15, 2010.
Judge Tunheim indicates that the Court and the parties will select the first bellwether case for trial after the hearing on the dispositive motions, and the trial is scheduled to begin on or about August 2, 2010.
At an early status conference on September 4, 2008, the parties had suggested that the first Levaquin lawsuits could be ready for trial by January 2010. However, the filing of additional lawsuits has slowed the discovery process and the parties have had differences of opinion about how the Levaquin trial and discovery plan and which cases should be selected for early trials.
Comment by mary on 10 May 2009:
Someone needs to notify all people involved in this case that tendon rupture is one of the symptoms of fluoride poisoning, and that Levaquin is loaded with it. Practitioners in the US, however, are rarely trained in diagnosing fluoride poisoning. The “medical specialist” and chemists at Levaquin’s manufacturer, Ortho-McNeil, could not even tell me how much fluoride in a single dose was bioavailable after ingestion. They did not know, themselves, and answered (laughing), “None.”
Comment by John G on 30 August 2009:
I took IV levaquin in November 2002 and ruptured the tendon in my right hand in September 2006. In addition, I experienced my first ever bout of Colitis in January 2003.
For a long time, I’ve believed that my colitis was caused by the levaquin. Now I’m reading that the levaquin is linked to Tendon problems.
I need a good attorney to represent me – I live on Long Island, in NY.
Comment by c. col on 5 September 2009:
What can one do for rutured tendons? My mother was on Levaquin for 3 months (yes, 3 months for complications with infection after hip surgery) and now has numbness and pain in both hands. Is there any way to repair tendons or ease the pain? Will it eventually heal?
Comment by Laura on 8 September 2009:
I was put on levaquin last week for bronchitis and my achilles tendon popped yesturday… I could not believe the pain, it was a white-out of pain and I fainted.
how can a drug make your achilles tendon pop??????
Comment by John on 16 October 2009:
I had an emergeny appendectomy in 2006, and just prior to my surgery, they started an IV and hung a bag of Levaquin to “prevent infections”! I knew what it was because my wife was put on it after her C-section! Shortly after I recovered from the surgery, I noticed that I had a hard time walking because of a sore achillies tendon. I don’t think that I have torn it (they both bother me, right more than left), however I am a very active individual and I am on my feet quite often all day long due to my job duties in the medical profession. I have been to the ER due to the pain and was prescribed naproxen 500 mg. Everytime I play softball, which is about 2-3 x/week, the next mornig I wake up and have a hard time walking to the shower….it’s only 30 feet away! Never before Levaquin have I had ANY issues with my achillies (bilaterally), and now I fear too much activity may jeopardize my career because I need to walk! I hope that no one else has to deal with this painful problem, however it seems as though it is pretty wide spread! Oh, I was never told anything about the drug other than it was to fight off infections!! “Ouch” is all I have to say, and sadly it is a daily thing!
Comment by Debra on 31 October 2009:
I have never felt such pain. It islike walking on razor blades. I have had to have $400. pair of orthotics made for my feet and now have to wear special shoes that cost alot.
All because I had an infection in my sinus and ear. The levaquin did not even work. I had to try something else to get rid of the infection. Planer Facitious is very very painful.
Comment by Melissa M. on 16 March 2010:
I took levaquin about 3 years ago for an ear infection/sinusitus. Ever since, I have had pain in my achiles when walking(I have to stop walking a lot and wait out the pain). I don’t own a car, so I take public transit and have to walk a lot. And I stand and walk all day at work. It has slowed me down and I have a lot of pain. I am afraid it will effect my job.
I also immediately following the levaquin started to have tendonitis in my arm and cervical problems with neck. As if all my muscles and tendons are tightening up. And stomach problems. I really hope they take this off the market or only use it in life threatening cases. I’m 37 and feel 87!