Johnson & Johnson Nabs Win in Second Levaquin Trial

A federal court jury in Minneapolis decided late last week that Johnson & Johnson was not responsible for a tendon injury suffered by an 84-year-old man and that the health care giant properly warned of the risks posed by its Levaquin antibiotic. The decision comes six months after J&J lost the first trial over the same issues. In the latest case, Calvin Christensen charged that his Achilles tendon in his right foot ruptured after he was given the drug while hospitalized for pneumonia, and that J&J’s Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical unit downplayed the risks. J&J denied failing to warn and contended Christensen needed Levaquin to treat the pneumonia. He filed his lawsuit in 2007 (read the lawsuit here).