Perilous Pills Author Spotlights Lawsuit Targeting Levaquin and Cipro
EAST BOOTHBAY, Maine, May 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Author Marilyn Beardsley Heise is hailing a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Dr. Charles Bennett, MD, PhD, MPP, with the Justice Department against Johnson & Johnson, Bayer and Merck, manufacturers of the commonly-prescribed fluoroquinolones Levaquin and Cipro.
"This is significant action taken by an advocate of drug safety to call attention to the misdeeds of three pharmaceutical giants who have been causing unnecessary harm to patients for decades," said Heise, journalist and author of Perilous Pills, Protecting Yourself from Fluoroquinolone Injury, published by Birdseed LLC. "Fluoroquinolones can cause severe disability and psychological impairment, sometimes for life." The lawsuit is featured on her website https://www.perilouspills.com.
The lawsuit brought by Bennett, Director of the Center for Medication Safety and Efficacy at the University of South Carolina, claims fraud by the companies for making false statements and misbranding fluoroquinolones for use in Medicaid, Medicare and other federal programs. Bennett accuses the pharmaceutical companies of misbranding, marketing, promoting and introducing these drugs through interstate commerce without a label warning that consuming them may cause Fluoroquinolone-Associated Disability (FQAD) and mitochondrial toxicity.
Hundreds of millions of prescriptions have been written for fluoroquinolones to treat common infections including pneumonia, sinusitis and urinary tract infections. At least 60% are estimated to be for Medicaid and Medicare patients.
The lawsuit argues that these manufacturers were on full notice of very serious adverse events based upon Dr. Bennett's and other extensive research, the FDA's MedWatch reporting system, FDA pharmacovigilance review reports, FDA advisory committee meeting discussions and citizen petitions to the FDA. Bennett claims information in numerous reports, studies and hundreds of patient reports to the FDA were ignored.
His suit argues that these companies continued to stand by Levaquin and Cipro labels, causing providers to prescribe Levaquin and Cipro without warnings. The companies also knowingly ignored laws and regulations about suppressing the harmful effects of the drugs.
The dispute asserts that these drug manufacturers fraudulently obtained billions of dollars from the federal government, unjustly enriching themselves at the expense of taxpayers and at risk of patient health. Further, by continuing this fraud, they exposed, and continue to expose, patients who could have been spared severe adverse events if the companies had acted in accordance with laws and regulations.
Charles Bennett v. Bayer Corporation et al Civil Action No. 17-4188 (ES)
SOURCE Birdseed LLC
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