Appeals Court Revives Levaquin Patient’s Lawsuit Over Toxic Reaction

A California woman’s claims that the antibiotic Levaquin caused a toxic skin reaction shouldn’t have been dismissed as time-barred because knowledge of causation can’t be imputed to a comatose patient, the Ninth Circuit said in an unpublished opinion (Holmes v. Johnson & Johnson, 9th Cir., 13-55821, unpublished 6/30/15).

The district court erred in concluding that plaintiff Gail Holmes, who was in a coma for 15 days, had filed her suit outside the two-year limitations period, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said June 30.

In finding the suit untimely, the trial court relied on ...