Attorneys representing several plaintiffs with claims stemming from their use of the antibiotics Levaquin, Avelox and Cipro have asked the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to consolidate the cases into a mass tort program.

Last week, three lawyers representing 32 plaintiffs with claims against Bayer Corp. and Janssen Pharmaceuticals sent a petition to Philadelphia Administrative Judge Kevin M. Dougherty, seeking to have the pending cases designated as a mass tort. The petition, filed in the case Whitters v. Bayer, said the attorneys anticipate filing at least 30 more cases in the near future.

The cases stem from the plaintiffs' use of Levaquin, Avelox and Cipro, which are broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotics that plaintiffs claim led to nerve damage in their extremities. The petition alleged that warnings on the drug failed to properly demonstrate the association between the drugs and peripheral neuropathy.