My recent post regarding injuries and lawsuits caused quinolone and fluoroquinolone antibiotics like Cipro, Levaquin and Floxin, provoked a number of great Comments and I thought it would be useful to offer some clarifying remarks regarding the injuries associated with these drugs.
Let me address some of the comments head on.
First, David Fuller, Director of the Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Research Foundation, commented: “I would hope that the legal community would not stop at litigation involving just the tendon injuries. This class is associated with far more serious and permanent damage than just that.” David is entirely right and my discuss of tendon injuries was not intended to imply that tendon ruptures were the only injuries linked to these medications. As noted by David, other associated injuries include: “irreversible peripheral neuropathy, fatal liver and kidney damage, fatal hypo and hyperglycemia, SJS and TEN [Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis], toxic psychosis, spontaneous ruptures not only of the tendons but also muscles, ligaments and cartilage”.
Second, Connie commented: “Ruptures & tendinitis aren’t the only adverse reactions that occur after taking these medicines. There are far worse ones that aren’t being mentioned.” Like I said above, I agree, my list wasn’t intended to be exhaustive. Connie mentions a quadriceps muscle rupture suffered by her husband, a 40 year old previously healthy guy, shortly after he took Cipro XR 1000.
Third, Shells commented: “The Black-box warning for tendon damage is just the tip of the iceberg!! The ADVERSE-REACTIONS caused by these drugs are NOT mere “side-effects”, but the result of damage to DNA, due to the TOXICITY of this class of drug. These severe reactions are often permanent and disabling.”
I wholeheartedly agree that the FDA has totally missed the boat on these drugs. Sad to say but the FDA, originally established as a watchdog to protect the public from dangerous drugs, has become a tired, old, toothless dog…..Even worse, we find over and over again in investigating these cases that the FDA has been subject to incredible influence by the big drug companies regarding the very drugs that the FDA was supposed to be carefully scrutinizing. So not only is the watchdog old, tired and toothless but now he’s being fed luscious treats by the very folks he’s supposed to be watching out for…. Yeeesshh, no wonder it’s becoming commonplace that the FDA does nothing until months or years after people are getting hurt or killed by bad drugs.
Hope this helps clarify. Many thanks to all for the Comments and keep them coming!
Jim
___________________________________
James B. Reed
NY & PA Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm
303 William Street
Elmira, NY 14902
(607)733-8866
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com
http://www. zifflaw.com
Here are some recent articles on this subject:
- Tendon Rupture: Signs and Symptoms
- FDA Warns Of Tendon Risk For Antibiotics
