The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is warning doctors not to prescribe fluoroquinolones unnecessarily for conditions that don’t require antibiotic treatment. This decision was taken after data was released which suggested that fluoroquinolones are often used to treat conditions that do not require antibiotic treatment or those with a different recommended first-line therapy. Because severe side-effects are linked to this group of drugs which involve tendons, muscles, joints, nerves and the central nervous system, with chances of life-threatening Clostridium difficile infection, which causes diarrhoea that can lead to severe colon damage and death, CDC has warned doctors to prescribe them only when “absolutely necessary.”
All Fluoroquinolone Neuropathy federal cases were transferred to the District of Minnesota and assigned to Judge John R. Tunheim as MDL No.-2642. Defendants include Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck & Co, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Research & Development LLC, McKesson Corporation, Schering Corporation, and Bayer Corporation. Allegations faced by the defendants are that they allegedly developed, manufactured and marketed fluoroquinolones. However, the defendants deny that fluoroquinolones are defective or unreasonably dangerous or that they failed to provide adequate warnings.The main allegations faced by the company are that they downplayed the risk and failed to alert the medical community and patients with adequate safety warnings.
