Quoted from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-06/johnson-johnson-properly-warned-on-antibiotic-levaquin-lawyer-says.html
Johnson & Johnson Warned on Levaquin Risk, Lawyer Says
By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Beth Hawkins - Dec 6, 2010 12:48 PM ET
Johnson & Johnson didn’t hide the risk of tendon damage linked to its antibiotic Levaquin and properly warned doctors, a lawyer for the drugmaker told jurors at the end of a trial in Minnesota.
“The information was not concealed,” John Dames, a J&J attorney, said today in his closing argument in federal court in Minneapolis. “We provide warnings that give doctors the means to care adequately for their patients.”
John Schedin, 82, sued in 2008, claiming he ruptured the Achilles tendons in both feet after taking the drug. Schedin claims J&J and its Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit failed to warn doctors and patients of Levaquin’s association with tendon damage.
Schedin’s case is the first trial on more than 2,600 claims in U.S. courts alleging that Levaquin caused tendon damage in patients taking the drug and J&J failed to adequately disclose the risk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2008 required an upgraded warning on tendon damage posed by Levaquin and similar drugs.
The plaintiffs claim the warning should have been enhanced earlier and remains inadequate. They also claim J&J and Ortho- McNeil-Janssen boosted sales by downplaying risks.