Cipro is an antibiotic prescription medication used to treat a variety of bacterial infections. It became famous in late 2001 when it was given to mail carriers and others who may have been exposed to anthrax during that year's anthrax attacks. However, Cipro has been one of our nation's most popular antibiotics for more than a decade because it treats multiple infections and is safe for people who are allergic to penicillin. Tens of millions of Cipro prescriptions are written each year in the U.S. alone and its sales exceeded $1 billion in 2000.

But Cipro is not a panacea -- it also carries a risk of disabling side effects, most notably spontaneous tendon rupture and other tendon problems. A tendon is a body tissue connecting muscles to bone. Rupturing a tendon can disable the patient for weeks or months, requiring surgery or long-term physical therapy in many cases. The most common tendon rupture reported as a Cipro side effect is the Achilles tendon, which connects the ankle to the calf and is a common site for sports injuries, but ruptures to the shoulders, hand and knee have also been reported. The risk of a Cipro-induced tendon problem is especially high for older people, people involved in heavy exercise, people taking steroid drugs and certain organ transplant patients.

The risk of Cipro-related tendon rupture has been known since at least 2005, when the FDA ordered Bayer, its manufacturer, to add warnings to the drug's packaging. But in July of 2008, the FDA ordered makers of Cipro and other drugs in its class, fluoroquinolone antibiotics, to add a black box warning about the tendon risks to the drug's packaging. That move came after the FDA had received complaints of "large numbers of tendon-related adverse events" -- more reports of injuries than expected. The agency also ordered manufacturers to undertake new safety studies for the potentially unsafe drugs.

These are not the only potentially disabling side effects of Cipro. Patients also report serious psychological side effects, including anxiety, depression, insomnia, confusion and even hallucinations. Blurred vision, muscle pain and joint pain are also commonly reported. In rare cases, Cipro and other fluoroquinolone antibiotics can cause permanent damage to the peripheral nervous system (any nerves other than the brain and spinal cord), which can lead to unexplained pain, weakness, numbness, tingling or loss of sensation. And because it can stop bones from growing, Cipro should never be given to children or pregnant women.

These serious risks have been understood for many years, but some doctors still believe Cipro is overprescribed -- and sometimes prescribed unnecessarily. Because it's effective against multiple infections, doctors may prescribe it as a first resort before identifying the exact cause of the patient's illness. In 2003, a University of Pennsylvania study of fluoroquinolone antibiotics found 81 inappropriate fluoroquinolone antibiotic prescriptions out of every 100 it studied. This problem was only increased during the 2001 anthrax scare, when panic led to unnecessary prescriptions and stockpiling of the drug by healthy people. However, Cipro's problems are shared by other fluoroquinolone antibiotics, including:

• Levaquin (levofloxacin)
• Factive (gemifloxacin)
• Avelox (moxifloxacin)
• Noroxin (norfloxacin)
• Floxin and generic ofloxacin

You can find more information on Cipro antibiotics and other potentially dangerous prescription drugs at our Drug Injury Attorney Blog.

If you believe you or someone you care about has serious Cipro-related tendon injuries or other side effects, Carey, Danis & Lowe would like to help. We are actively seeking reports of serious injury or illness due to Cipro use, as part of our pharmaceutical liability practice. If this leads to a Cipro dangerous drug lawsuit, you could win compensation for medical bills, lost income and a permanently changed quality of life due to disability. Based in St. Louis, our experienced defective pharmaceutical lawyers represent clients in Missouri, Illinois and throughout the United States. To set up a free consultation on your case, please contact us online or call 1-877-678-3400 today.