Levaquin is a commonly prescribed antibotic. Doctors offer it for everything from urinary tract infections to sinus infections.
But one mom is pushing to get Levaquin off the shelves after she says she suffered devastating side effects, and a drug watchdog group is pushing the FDA for tougher warning labels.
"Every day you push through it, you push through it because you have it," said Andrienne Myers, patient.
Myers endures grueling physical therapy several times a week. The 36-year-old mother of two struggles to walk.
"It's very painful for me, just because my Achilles hurts really bad, so in order for me to not lose strength in my legs, I have to do this. I just have to bear the pain," she said.
It started last summer. Myers was diagnosed with a sinus infection. Doctors prescribed Levaquin, the brand name for a drug called Levofloaxacin.
A few days into the prescription, "I started having issues with my legs. My legs hurt. They burned. I felt like I walked uphill all day. My feet hurt. I had problems with my eyes. My vision started becoming kind of blurred," she said.
It took three months and four doctors to come up with a diagnosis.
"Let's put a timeline to this and see where we are and then see if we can tease out any correlations thats really where we were able to get to the notion that this was a Levaquin problem," said Dr. Ki Jung, neurologist.
Dr. Jung says the Levaquin caused tendinopathy and peripheral neuropathy.
"He said unfortunately you have nerve damage from taking Levaquin," said Myers.
"I'm not surprised. I've been working on this for years. This woman is a story that's replicated in city after city, case after case," said Dr. Charles Bennett.
Bennett chairs a drug watchdog agency at the University of South Carolina. He recently petitioned the FDA for new black box warnings for Levaquin. Those are bold warnings meant to grab your attention. The FDA already required black box warnings in 2008 warning of possible tendon rupture and muscle weakness. In 2013 the FDA required a label change warning of nerve damage.
Bennett says the FDA's own stats show 1,200 people have died and nearly 100,000 have suffered side effects from Levaquin.
"I'm very fortunate that it has not been a life-threatening thing for me so I think about the positive and hopefully my nerves will regenerate themselves and become healthy again," said Myers.
"It makes you wish, just like anybody you love, you could go back and do something about it. Like wish you had more time, researched more, maybe take it off her shoulders a little bit and out it on yours," said Shannon Myers, Adrienne's husband.
The company that makes Levaquin emailed a statement saying:
"Levaquin tablets are part of an important class of anti-infective prescription medications that have been used for more than 20 years to treat infections, including those that may be serious or life-threatening."
The statement goes on to say that when used according to the product labeling, Levaquin has been proven to have a favorable benefit-risk profile.
The best advice is to ask your doctor and your pharmacist to go over the possible side effects of this drug , or any drug, for that matter, and if you have concerns, ask for an alternative.
