For adult patients with rheumatological disorders taking corticosteroids, what are the risks of permanent connective tissue damage causing pain and further disability when fluoroquinolone antibiotics are prescribed to them?

This topic is important because I find that there is a consensus of ignorance and denial in the medical care community regarding the prescription of fluoroquinolone antibiotics to these vulnerable populations. Despite the fact that the FDA prescribing information for Levaquin and other fluoroquinolones cite these risks, these antibiotics continue to be prescribed to patients with multiple increased risk factors and often result in permanent bodily harm, chronic pain and increased disability. These effects cause needless suffering and further disability to populations which may already be dependent on government health programs. This practice is harmful to the life quality and independence of affected individuals and so also to society. Since the damage caused by these drugs may be easily blamed on the very vulnerabilities which are indicated as risks, documentation of harm from these drugs on these patients is virtually non-existent. These patients would be excluded from clinical research, and yet may be treated with these drugs in a patient care setting.

If information regarding the practice of prescribing fluoroquinolones to patients with multiple risk factors could be recognized, it could be used to prevent permanent bodily harm, disability and chronic pain to many vulnerable populations.

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