A recent study conducted by safety experts Dr. Charles Bennett, Linda Martin PhD, and others has found that there have been more serious gastrointestinal (GI) events associated with taking fluoroquinolones than reported on drug labels. Data from the FDA adverse events website plus reports from individuals on FQ Facebook group sites and more, revealed that there are more GI cases that have been either serious, disabling or resulted in death. 

Of a total of 9,098 GI events reported after taking Cipro/ciprofloxacin, 87.30% were called serious and another 12.98% were disabling.  Of the 7,283 GI cases after taking Levaquin/Levofloxacin, 88.40% were serious and 10.68% were disabling.  Other drugs that resulted in significant numbers of gastrointestinal disturbances were Avelox/moxifloxacin, Norfloxacin, Lomefloxacin, and Ofloxacin, the latter receiving the highest number of deaths at 13.46%.

Researchers concluded that this data suggests GI disorders other than nausea, diarrhea and vomiting should be included in product labels for all FQs, and that serious side effects should be considered uncommon side effects.  Further, the authors recommend that physicians and especially gastroenterologists should become more aware of the dangers of Fluoroquinolone Associated Disability (FQAD) syndrome and consider that serious GI events are associated with taking these powerful drugs.