FDA Hearing – Victory for Victims of Fluoroquinolones

This is a follow up post to These Over-Prescribed Antibiotics are Causing Transgenerational DNA Damage. These meds should be banned!

Floxie Hope

On November 5, 2015, a meeting was held at the FDA’s White Oak campus in Silver Spring, Maryland, for the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee to discuss, “the risks and benefits of the systemic fluoroquinolone antibacterial drugs for the treatment of acute bacterial sinusitis, acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis in patients who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in the context of available safety information and the treatment effect of antibacterial drugs in these clinical conditions.”   

Hundreds of victims of fluoroquinolones from all over the U.S. and Canada came to the meeting to tell their stories of fluoroquinolone toxicity, and the pain and disability that fluoroquinolones brought to their lives. 35 victims and advocates had the opportunity to speak directly to the committee.

The stories of pain, disability, and death caused by Cipro/ciprofloxacin, Levaquin/levofloxacin, Avelox/moxifloxacin and Floxin/ofloxacin were heart-felt and poignant. The pain that these drugs have caused was noted by all those in attendance–including fellow victims, supporters of victims, the media, and the committee.

After deliberation and discussion, the FDA committee decided that the risk and benefits of systemic fluoroquinolone use for treatment of sinus infections, bronchitis in those with COPD, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections, are NOT sufficiently described in the warning labels for fluoroquinolones. The committee voted almost unanimously in favor of changing the warning labels. WE WERE HEARD! This is a HUGE step in the right direction!

The committee is now going to recommend that the FDA update the warning labels to better address the risks and benefits associated with fluoroquinolones. You can read in past posts about how the briefing for this meeting acknowledged that fluoroquinolones are no better at treating the conditions in question than placebos (http://floxiehope.com/2015/10/20/the-fda-notes-that-fluoroquinolones-are-no-better-than-placebos/) and how fluoroquinolones cause a constellation of disabling symptoms (http://floxiehope.com/2015/10/25/an-official-name-fluoroquinolone-associated-disability-fqad/). The entire brief can be read HERE.

An almost unanimous vote by the committee is a HUGE step in the right direction and it is a huge VICTORY that should be celebrated!

THANK YOU to all who came to the meeting testify or to support! You are all appreciated!

In a few days (maybe weeks) the entire meeting will be available to be viewed online. I suggest checking in at the FDA’s web site in a couple of weeks – http://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/Drugs/Anti-InfectiveDrugsAdvisoryCommittee/ucm424449.htm. (I’m not sure that that’s the correct link. If it’s not, I apologize.)

Here are a couple of videos of the testimony provided:

Nicole Delaine:

Michael Kaferly:

Here is what I (Lisa Bloomquist) said:

My name is Lisa Bloomquist. I flew in from Denver in order to testify about the damage that ciprofloxacin did to me, and to encourage you to cut the approved uses for fluoroquinolones so that they are only used in life-or-death situations.

In 2011 I took ciprofloxacin to treat an uncomplicated urinary tract infection. I experienced the following symptoms after taking it:

1. Hives all over my body
2. Weakness in my legs to the point that I could barely walk
3. Tightness and pain in my tendons
4. Brain fog
5. Memory loss
6. Autonomic nervous system dysfunction
7. Fatigue
8. Anxiety, fear and other central nervous system symptoms

I was sick for 18 months of my life in my early 30s because of a drug I took to treat a simple urinary tract infection. I have gotten rid of subsequent uncomplicated UTIs with d-mannose and my immune system. It is NOT APPROPRIATE for drugs that are as dangerous and consequential as ciprofloxacin and the other fluoroquinolones to be prescribed to treat simple infections that can be cured with more benign methods.

You will hear the testimony of people who have had much worse reactions than I did. You will hear from people whose lives have been destroyed by fluoroquinolones. The adverse effects of these drugs are severe.

Janssen and Bayer lawyers claim that there is no mechanism for the constellation of symptoms described today. They are wrong.

Fluoroquinolones cause:

1. Mitochondrial damage which starts a vicious cycle of oxidative stress and further mitochondrial damage. 
2. Acute fluoride toxicity.
3. Fluoroquinolones chelate vital minerals from cells, including magnesium and iron. These minerals are necessary for hundreds of enzymatic reactions. 
4. Fluoroquinolones cause a downgrading of GABA receptors and essentially throw people into protracted benzodiazepine withdrawal.
5. Fluoroquinolones cause a massive histamine release and mast cell activation. 
6. They cause collagen synthesis disorders.
7. They cause microbiome destruction.
8. All topoisomerase interrupting drugs cause epigenetic damage. They are chemo drugs. Fluoroquinolones should be treated as chemo drugs. They should only be used in life-or-death situations. 

I know these effects, and I can refer you to the studies documenting them. Why don’t you?

Sherry Reiver:

Good afternoon chair and committee people,

I am so angry after hearing the drug companies but I have my speech written already!

My name is Sherry Reiver and I am 64 years old. I have been sick from FQs in all forms since I was 43. I moved from NY to Charlotte 10 years ago and for 21 years it is difficult to find a dr that will validate that FQs has destroyed my health and life. Each year that goes by, it’s harder for Drs to believe that these affects last so long. Over two years ago during a surgery at Duke against my consent, Floxin soaked GELFOAM PLEDGETS and steroids were placed in my head and I am 200x worse. Lets not kid ourselves, TOPICALS are just as dangerous as any FQs and the Topicals need to be INCLUDED not EXCLUDED from that PN warning the FDA came out with in August of 13.


The perils of the topicals used on children for ear and eye infections should cause great concern and should be researched as well. What are these drugs doing to their little brains and bodies?


This is a bittersweet day for me. Four years ago today, my 93 year old dad died. He FELL at home and was taken to the hospital by a neighbor. By the time my husband and I arrived in Florida, my dad had no idea who we were. They THOUGHT he had pneumonia so they IV’d him with Levaquin. It turned out that he did NOT have pneumonia but he continued to hallucinate for 6 weeks and then died. He was sharp as a tack before Levaquin dripped into his body. He did have an aortic aneurysm for many years which was being watched but it ruptured on November 4th. I would have never connected the AA with FQs until I read this research paper dated October 5th 2015. So here is another RARE side effect that can occur, which it did in my dad’s case. How many others have died from AAs and had taken a FQ drug? It took 10 years for this report to come to light. Was the FDA aware of this research from Tawain?

Do you know that after each cystoscope, Urologists hand out the gift of one Cipro, thank you Bayer, for the “just in case ” scenario? I know this for a fact. Cipro is also given out FREE at pharmacy so therefore it is prescribed more.


Three minutes does not allow me time to talk about my own health issues but understand there are many but Dr. Boxwell’s slides just showed them. We have flares which come and go at the whim of these drugs. It’s the drug that keeps on giving even years later. It has no time constraints, it holds no barriers. Doctors are clueless. We get no warnings, doctors DO NOT report our concerns and they dint read the labels themselves!

NOW EVERYONE, THIS IS THE PART I WAS UNABLE TO READ AS I READ TOO SLOWLY AND MY 3 minutes were up!!!


We are all disabled in different degrees. Don’t judge a book by its cover. I miss my life, i miss reading , I miss being productive and I miss my salary. What I have is not the “aging process” as some Drs have told me, but FQ Toxicity.


Unfortunately there are millions of people who have not connected the dots because they don’t expect an antibiotic to do such harm. Some of these people have died and their families will never know that the FQs were the reason.


Drug reps are NOT the ones who should be educating the Drs on the uses of ANY drugs. The drug companies need to come forward with information they are hiding. Their studies are flawed. PLEASE STOP THE MADNESS of these drugs being handed out so indiscriminately.

Although I am not asking you to ban these drugs, I personally, if on my deathbed would rather die than experience any worsening of my life as it is now.
Thank you for your time. I waited 21 years to be heard!

If you would like to share your testimony on this site (to archive it, for search engines to find it, or just because you want to) please send it to me through the Contact link above. I am happy to post any and all testimony in any form.

Thank you again to everyone who came to the meeting yesterday! It truly was a huge victory! Great job, everyone!!!

http://floxiehope.com/2015/11/06/fda-hearing-victory-for-victims-of-fluoroquinolones/