Quoted from http://www.startribune.com/business/111420064.html
Blockbuster drug kicks up a legal storm
Johnson & Johnson faces thousands of suits over its antibiotic Levaquin.
By Janet Moore, Star Tribune
Last update: December 6, 2010 - 10:12 PM
When 76-year-old John Schedin was diagnosed with bronchitis five years ago, his doctor prescribed a popular antibiotic called Levaquin, plus a steroid, to lick the lingering chest infection once and for all.
But after taking the drugs for three days, Schedin ruptured both of his Achilles tendons, a bizarre injury he attributes to Levaquin. In 2008, the Edina resident sued the unit of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson that markets the drug, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
Schedin's case is one of hundreds that have been consolidated in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis before Judge John Tunheim -- and is the first to go to trial. A jury of eight men and four women heard closing arguments Monday morning and began deliberating.
All told, more than 2,600 lawsuits have been filed by Levaquin patients with tendon injuries in state and federal courts nationwide. Schedin, a retired salesman, is seeking an unspecified amount in punitive and compensatory damages.
At issue is whether J&J adequately warned doctors and patients about the potential for Levaquin to cause tendon damage throughout the body.