The Value of an Antibiotic Lawsuit

While there is a long standing precedent an antibiotic lawsuit against products that have proven dangerous, the lawsuits against the antibiotic Ketek have raised more than a few eyebrows. As one antibiotic lawsuit after another has shown, the negligence associated with bringing Ketek to the United States' market is far beyond anything that has ever occurred before in the pharmaceutical industry.

When one looks at the significant number of problems deriving from the use of Ketek, it becomes incredulous to think how this product could have possible been approved. Then, upon careful examination the reasons why Ketek received FDA approval are revealed and they are quite shocking. Ketek, quite honestly, acquired its FDA approval through the basis of fraud and deceit.

Please note, the notion that Ketek utilized fraudulent practices to gain approval is not a knee jerk reaction nor is it an attempt to smear the pharmaceutical companies. It is an established fact that faulty research methods were employed in order to acquire approval of the drug on the United States market. The drug had previously been available in France and Japan so there was an assumption that the product was safe. Of course, there is no way to know this unless one performed adequate research into the instances of adverse side effects on patients in those countries. In the United States, however, it was assumed that proper testing and clinical research was performed. Such an assumption proved both inaccurate and disastrous, as the testing was beyond negligent.

Case in point, one of the physicians who provided information on the safety of this drug is now spending 50+ months in federal prison. What was the reason for the imprisonment? Well, the clinical test documents provided were not accurate and withheld critical information. The most egregious example of withheld information was the fact the product could cause liver damage. With such new information coming to light, it is any surprise that one antibiotic lawsuit after another is filed against the manufacturer of Ketek?

While much has been done to warn the public of problems with Ketek, these warnings do not make it a safe product. Nor do any of these warning free the manufacturer from any liabilities. This is the reason why so many lawsuits have been filed and will continue to be filed.