Yet another product liability lawsuit has been brought against Bayer Healthcare over claims that its controversial antibiotic drug, Avelox, caused an Illinois woman to suffer severe and long-lasting nerve damage, known as peripheral neuropathy. The Avelox lawsuit was filed last week by Jeanne Bullard, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. If you believe you have been adversely affected by side effects of Avelox, such as peripheral neuropathy, our consumer advocates at the Consumer Justice Foundation can help. We are dedicated to protecting the rights of consumers harmed by potentially dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and can help put you in touch with a knowledgeable attorney who has experience handling Avelox injury claims.
According to allegations raised in Bullard’s Avelox lawsuit, she was prescribed a 10-day course of the antibiotic drug in January 2013, after which she began to suffer from peripheral neuropathy, a severe form of nerve damage resulting in symptoms like numbness, pain and weakness in the hands and feet. Bullard’s case joins a growing number of peripheral neuropathy lawsuits filed against Bayer and the makers of similar drugs, like Levaquin, which belong to a class of antibiotic medications known as fluoroquinolones. All of the Avelox and Levaquin complaints involve similar allegations that the companies manufacturing these drugs failed to provide consumers and the medical community with adequate warnings about the potential link between the antibiotics and potentially irreversible nerve damage.
While warnings included on the labels of Avelox, Levaquin and similar antibiotics have indicated that users of the drugs may face a risk of nerve damage, for years, the manufacturers claimed that the problems were rare and typically resolved once use of the medication was discontinued. According to a growing body of research however, peripheral neuropathy from Avelox and Levaquin may be more common than originally believed, and may result in permanent nerve damage side effects. In August 2013, the FDA required the makers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics to provide stronger warnings about the peripheral neuropathy risk associated with the medications, indicating that problems may last for months or even years after a patient stops taking the drug.
“A scientific review by the FDA of the adverse events in the FDA Adverse Event database in 2003 concerning Avelox and other fluoroquinolones revealed numerous reports of long-term peripheral neuropathy,” Bullard’s Avelox peripheral neuropathy lawsuit states. “Thus, rather than warning patients and physicians that the use of Avelox may result in permanent nerve damage, Defendants instead adopted a warning that misleadingly indicated such damage was rare and failed to make any mention of the risk of permanent nerve damage.” In her lawsuit, Bullard is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for failure to warn, strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.”
