The Potent Antibiotic Levaquin Has Been Tied to Painful Tendon Ruptures, Other Injuries
Levaquin (generic levofloxacin) is a powerful, prescription antibiotic made by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical that has been linked to an increased risk of tendon ruptures, tendonitis, and other serious injuries. As part of the group of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones, Levaquin is commonly used to treat bacterial infections of the sinuses, skin, lungs, ears, airways, bones, and joints.
Tendons can rupture quickly, within hours of taking Levaquin, or may take weeks to develop. In some cases, patients feel pain and notice swelling or bruising in the area of the tendon, but some patients report seeing no symptoms of problems before they are injured.
FDA Warns Users of Levaquin About Risk of Tendon Ruptures
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July 2008 ordered Bayer to add prominent warnings about the risks of tendon ruptures and tendonitis to the packaging of Levaquin. The FDA required the drug manufacturer to further alert patients, pharmacists and physicians of the increased risk of such injuries after taking the drug.
Although the FDA said many of the injuries could be avoided if patients stopped taking the drug at the first sign of pain or swelling in the tendon and notified their physicians, some injured patients reported feeling no pain or swelling in the tendon before suffering their injuries.
If you or a loved one suffered a ruptured tendon, tendonitis, or other injury while taking Levaquin, we encourage you to seek legal help.