Due to potential risks to the baby, the manufacturer does not recommend that nursing mothers take levofloxacin. However, the risk appears to be very low, and levofloxacin can be used in breastfeeding mothers with proper monitoring of the infant, combined with delaying breastfeeding for 4–6 hours after taking levofloxacin. Children
Levofloxacin is not approved in most countries for the treatment of children except in unique and life-threatening infections because it is associated with an elevated risk of musculoskeletal injury in this population, a property it shares with other fluoroquinolones. In the United States levofloxacin is approved for the treatment of anthrax and plague in children over six months of age.Levofloxacin is recommended by the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society and the Infectious Disease Society of America as a first-line treatment for pediatric pneumonia caused by penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, and as a second-line agent for the treatment of penicillin-sensitive cases.In one study, 1534 juvenile patients (age 6 months to 16 years) treated with levofloxacin as part of three efficacy trials were followed up to assess all musculoskeletal events occurring up to 12 months post-treatment. At 12 months follow-up the cumulative incidence of musculoskeletal adverse events was 3.4%, compared to 1.8% among 893 patients treated with other antibiotics. In the levafloxacin-treated group, approximately two-thirds of these musculoskeletal adverse events occurred in the first 60 days, 86% were mild, 17% were moderate, and all resolved without long-term sequelae.
Daiichi, working with Johnson & Johnson as it had with ofloxacin, obtained FDA approval in 1996 under the brand name Levaquin to treat bacterial sinusitus, bacterial exacerbations of bronchitis, community-acquired pneumonia, uncomplicated skin infections, complicated urinary tract infections, and acute pyelonephritis.Levofloxacin is marketed by Sanofi-Aventis under a license agreement signed with Daiichi in 1993, under the brand name "Tavanic".Levofloxacin had reached blockbuster status by this time; combined worldwide sales of levofloxacin and ofloxacin for J&J alone were US$1.6 billion in 2009.The term of the levofloxacin United States patent was extended by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 810 days under the provisions of the Hatch Waxman Amendment so that the patent would expire in 2010 instead of 2008. This extension was challenged by generic drug manufacturer Lupin Pharmaceuticals, which did not challenge the validity of the patent, but only the validity of the patent extension, arguing that the patent did not cover a "product" and so Hatch-Waxman was not available for extensions. The federal patent court ruled in favor of J&J and Daiichi, and generic versions of levofloxacin did not enter the U.S. market until 2009. Society and culture
Availability
Levofloxacin is available in tablet form, injection, and oral solution. Usage
The FDA estimated that in 2011, over 23 million outpatient prescriptions for fluoroquinolones, of which levofloxacin made up 28%, were filled in the United States.