Levaquin and class action lawsuit

After you read a representative sampling of this website's testimonials, you certainly ask yourself inter alia: Can this be true? Did thousands of people inject an antibiotic from the fluoroquinolone family, which crippled them for longer or for shorter? Most of us, I suspect, never really get beyond the initial litmus test: Did this medicine poison me or save me? (The answer depends, of course, upon the age, gender, medical condition, and most importantly, the DNA make-up of the individual patient. For hundreds of thousands of patients this antibiotic is a boon. For thousands of other misfortunes this antibiotic is a disaster.) But there is another important question here.

Who gains from self-revelation? To be sure individual sufferers gain certain emotional catharsis from posting their adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to levaquin. E-postings are one-way anonymous tracks that form ruts on a well-traveled trail of tears. Unless these postings are hoaxes written by mischievious gnomes, then they consitute prima facie evidence for a causal link between levaquin injection and sundry crippling ADRs.

Curiously, this e-forum cannot be used as a tool for organizing thousands of potential litigants who might coalesce under a class action lawsuit. Yes, we can analyze each other's anonymous revelations to see if they muster our respective sense of the "ring-of-truth" re: levaquin toxicity, and we may contact each other one-on-one, but no-one can harness this intoxicating communication's technology to reach simultaneously all respondents en masse as a bloc.

So, who wins? The emotionally unburdened e-poster who learns belatedly that s/he is not alone and that prescription medicine likely caused more pain than the underlying malady for which s/he is being treated? Or big pharma that continues to manufacture and market a medication that poses downside risk to many consumers who unwittingly incur more damage than therapeutic value?

Indeed, who wins in a forum where consumers anonymously reveal their symptoms and unconfirmed suspicions? The answer is big pharma wins. Pharmaceutical companies data-mine our postings to estimate the frequency and bredth of ADRs about which consumers complain. House statisticians estimate the ratio of active complainants : silent complainants, i.e., the ratio of complaints who show up on this website to the far heftier percentage of complainants who never post on this website because either they are technology-challenged or they are incurious. House actuarians proceed to estimate how much operating profits their employers must set aside to cover losses in out-of-court settlements or in awards made to plaintiffs in class action lawsuits.

I think this is how the game is played in a behavioral sink where billions are made in a deregulated marketplace that allows predators and prey to interact anonymously. Sorry to be such a downer, but I fathom only the desperate plight of tens of thousands of levaquin consumers for whom no monetary award ever will compensate them adequately for their suffering, and the hundreds of millions of dollars at stake in court awards if consumers ever brought to bear their aggregate numbers and draw a bead on their big pharma tormenters.

I think it a true horror and shame that pharmaceutical companies have not devised a test which determines in advance which patient safely may consume levaquin and which patient's DNA places him or her at risk. I suspect the genome technology is available, but would dig too deeply into big pharm's bottom line. The economics of "parachutes-for-everyone" is infeasible. We are all guinea pigs in a B-grade movie featuring Russian roulette, billion-dollar pay-offs, and an FDA that pretends not to know.

I took 500 mg. of Levaquin for 10 days in January and caused extreme swelling and pain in both my knees, which I am still suffering from. I've had x-rays and an MRI of my left knee, which shows tearing of the tendons. I had my knee drained and injected and while it's a little better, the pain and swelling is still affecting my lifestyle, to where it's very difficult for me to walk stairs, and has affected my exercise routine as well.
Has anyone thought of filing a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer of this poison? I have filed a Medwatch report with the FDA and called the manufacturer of the medication. They offered to refund the cost of the medication if I sent in the receipt, as well as possibly refunding the costs of the procedures associated with this.

I have taken Levaquin 500 mg daily for the last 7 days. I am quitting it today! I am so tired. Cannot sleep! Have severe pain in both of my hips! I do not have a history of sleep disorder or hip pain!!! I even have severe pain in both of my shoulders now as well. My doctors insist this isn't from the med. My pharmacist differs in that opinion!! This stuff is POISON!!!
I am a registered nurse and will preach this to any and everyone who will listen!!!
I only pray I will not suffer a tendon rupture even after I have stopped this med! If that happens I will contact an attorney! Can we get a class-action lawsuit for all of us and to prevent others from this terrible experience???

Such severe lower abdominal pain, was forced to go to ER overnite. Wondering about possibility of a free class action lawsuit, or other RETALIATION against the drug manufacturer. Also need company CEO's name, home phone#, and cell# if possible.

-Thanx.

OMG, I was on Levaquin for approx 4-5 weeks, 500mg twice a day. I have muscle aches, deep body aching, feel like I ran a marathon, my feet hurt so much that I have to limp when I get up to walk, my legs feel like lead, strange pains throughout my body at any time of day or night, my right foot swelled slightly, and my right hand is stiff and I have to pry it open in the morning. Today I felt so weak, I thought I would pass out.
I've been off this drug for almost two weeks now, with no end in sight from these side effects. Why the heck are doctors still prescribing this drug. Anybody interested in a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer?

Just got back from the dr. She said it is definitly caused by Levaquin. The knee pain etc. is from this drug. She said it putme right over the edge after taking it for only one week. Hopefully it will subside. This is a powerful drug that attacks cartilage and joints and should not be used by people prone to arthritic conditions. Anyway, I feel better knowing I don"t have Lyme or anything more serious. GoodLuck to all of you out there, hang in there.Marsh

I was prescribed levaquin for for a respiratory infection. Instead of getting better I got worse. I was weak, began to have joint pain as well as the infection problems. I called my doctor after doing research on the internet. He told me to stop levaquin and to take advil. This didn't help. When I went back to him he tested me for lupus, ms, and RA. He eventually sent me to an arthritis specialist that I am still seeing 5 months later. Although she had never heard of these side effects until I explained them she has supported my concern that I have been suffering from an adverse reaction to the medication. I still suffer from joint pain and swelling as well as an acute burning pain in my thigh. The only treatment that I am receiving is steriod shots in my joints which do offer some relief. As I sit here tonight my leg is extremely painful. Will it ever go away or are we all doomed to suffer these ill effects the rest of our lives. I hurt... if anyone knows of a class action lawsuit please share the information.
Gypsy
52 yrs old

I think it's important to keep perspective. There are people reading this forum who have just started Levaquin or it has just been prescribed to them. Keep in mind that everyone posting here did so because they had problems with Levaquin.

There are far more people who have taken it with little or no side effects, and chances are, you will be one of those people. I just completed a 10 day course of 250mg for acute kidney infection, and experienced no side effects at all.

I have no doubt that this drug does have extremely horrible side effects for some, but listen to the diagnosis for many of these people. Sinusitis? It's the most common diagnosis in doctors' offices each day. And many foolish doctors are prescribing something this strong for sinusitis. Thousands of people start this medication each day, and most will not have problems. If everyone had problems, you'd see thousands of posts each day, a class-action lawsuit would have been organized, and the drug would be off the market.

Eventually this WILL happen, but because the side effects happen to so few people, it will take years to amass enough participants to make it worth the expense an attorney will have to front to take on the company.

This is what really scares me. Reading page after page of awful side effects can actually cause someone to manifest these side effects phychosomatically in their body. So if you're reading this after just having started Levaquin, DON'T LET YOUR IMAGINATION GET OUT OF CONTROL. It's not likely that you'll experience what these people have.

If you do, be responsible, report it to your doctor and to MedWatch.

I'm 45 and I took Levaquin last Sept 2005 for a sinus infection. Within a day I started having strange side effects including heart racing, terrible insomnia, nightmares and anxiety feelings. After 2 or 3 sleepless nights and thinking I was crazy (like how could these side effects be coming from an antibiotic??), I got on the internet and read about other's similar experiences, and worse. I stopped taking Levaquin immediately, but not before awful knee pain started. It's now May, and my knees and right arch are so painful and I have a very hard time with normal activities. I'm not overweight so that is not causing my knee problems. There ought to be a class action lawsuit, I agree. Just saw my MD who ran lupus tests due to my knee joint swelling (kind of passed off my Levaquin concerns except to say they did find cartiliage damage in rabbit tests). Fortunately lupus tests were all negative as was knee xray. There's a lot I can't do due to the pain. I'm angry, and wondering when this will clear up! Don't take Levaquin unless it's life threatening!!

HOW CAN WE START A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE MAKER OF LEVAQUIN FOR THE PAIN AND SUFFERING THAT IT HAS CAUSED?????????????????????????

I took levaquin over a year ago for the treatment of Lyme disease. I have not been able to have a normal nights sleep since. I am told that I go directly in REM sleep and this is why the dreams are so vivid and unrestful. We need to stop this drug from being on the market. The drug companies think that they can get away with anything to get their drugs out there. Please help us stop them. They are killing us!