Maplewood, NJ"Attorneys were at first only taking Levaquin cases with ruptured Achilles tendons, but new studies show that Levaquin can cause ruptures anywhere in the body," says Stacey Hauer, lead litigator in Levaquin cases at Johnson Becker PLLC.
That's potentially good news for Steve, who ruptured his Achilles tendon after taking Levaquin. When Steve tried to get involved in a Levaquin class-action lawsuit, an attorney said his statute of limitations had run out. But Steve later suffered ruptured tendons in both shoulders??"he may still be able to file a Levaquin lawsuit.
In October 2006, Steve was hospitalized for a bowel resection and acquired a staph infection. He was prescribed Levaquin??"seven 500 mg tablets??"but his infection didn't clear up so his doctor prescribed another round. "The infection eventually cleared and I got back to my normal life," says 75-year-old Steve, who used to enjoy a very active life.
"Less than a year later, I was jogging with my dog and I heard a snap, then a pain in my ankle," says Steve. "I've never had any tendon injuries, despite playing tennis all my life so I figured it was just a temporary injury. But my ankle didn't heal and I couldn't run anymore so I saw an orthopedic doctor. An x-ray showed a little tear in my tendon. He prescribed physical therapy for a few weeks, but it didn't help so I had a cortisone shot in my ankle, which did help. But I had to give up running and I can't even walk at a fast pace.
"So I started playing a lot of golf, but I began to have problems with both my elbows??"like tennis elbow or golf elbow. I never had a problem when I played tennis, so why now, and why both elbows? The pain wasn't continuous but bothersome.
"Last summer I had to stop playing golf because my arms and shoulders were hurting so much. I was at Home Depot trying to get some lumber off a rack above me but I didn't have the strength to lift my arm. I had big tendon tears in both shoulders.
"I ended up having an MRI on my left shoulder and in December 2010 I had surgery for the rotator cuff on my left shoulder. I had an MRI on my right shoulder and now I am scheduled to have the same surgery on my right shoulder in a few months. And I am still having problems with my left shoulder??"not as bad as before but definitely not back to normal. I have no upper arm strength anymore.
"As for my ankle, I have to be conscious of it all the time; I can feel something is not right every time I move. I know I am reaching my golden years and this is a real drag because I'm in good health otherwise??"this Levaquin damage is annoying as hell.
"I know that Levaquin doesn't affect everyone but it certainly affects a whole lot of people??"all you have to do is look online. It makes sense that attorneys are looking at these claims because a tendon is a tendon, no matter where it is in the body."
Not only was Steve given a "double dose" of Levaquin, the antibiotic shouldn't be prescribed to anyone over the age of 60. Two years after he took Levaquin, the FDA issued an alert that stated: "Fluoroquinolones, including Levaquin, are associated with an increased risk of tendonitis and tendon rupture in all ages. This risk is further increased in older patients usually over 60 years of age…."
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