Johnson & Johnson Objects to Consolidation of Levaquin Lawsuits

By Jim Greene

Published on November 23, 2009

Johnson and Johnson is opposing a move to consolidate three lawsuits against the company and its subsidiary, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., over the antibiotic Levaquin, claiming it would create an unfair disadvantage in hundreds of pending suits.

Consolidation of similar suits is a method sometimes used to avoid duplication of efforts. A few representative suits are selected for a first round, which can give attorneys a hint of what they might expect from juries in future cases and begin setting precedents for those cases. The process can sometimes lead to settlement of other cases without trial.

The defendants have filed an objection to a petition from three plaintiffs to have their cases consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The plaintiffs claim the similarity of their cases warrants consolidation; the defendants counter that the cases are different enough that they would be at a disadvantage if not allowed to respond to each separately.

At issue is the defendants' liability for alleged injury suffered by users of Levaquin. The antibiotic is meant to stop infection by preventing bacteria from reproducing. The drug has been shown to be toxic to tendons, increasing the chance of ruptures, especially of the Achilles tendon in the heel.

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