Leflaw.com

Avelox is manufactured by Bayer Corporation. Avelox is an antibiotic in the class of drugs known as fluoroquinolones which are synthetic antimicrobial agents that were modeled after nalidixic acid, a non-flourinated quinolone antibiotic. Nalidixic acid was approved by the FDA in 1963 for the treatment of urinary tract infections. It is rapidly absorbed after oral administration and is excreted into the urine in bactericidal concentrations. Nalidixic acid had several limitations in that it has a narrow spectrum of activity and microorganisms easily developed a resistance to it.

Those powerful but risky drugs are intended for patients who are fighting particular bacterial bugs. But they're widely prescribed off-label for less serious illnesses, sometimes even to treat viruses, which can't be killed by antibiotics.

A study this year funded by the National Institutes of Health reviewed 100 emergency-room prescriptions for fluoroquinolones and found that only 19 were written for appropriate conditions and only one was given in the correct dose and for the proper duration.

Patients are being injured or killed as doctors prescribe drugs in ways federal regulators never certified as safe and effective. The practice is known as "off-label prescribing."

Pharmaceutical companies flex their marketing muscle to send off-label drug sales soaring.

Efforts by federal regulators to curb off-label prescribing have largely failed.

Report adverse reactions when you're taking any prescription drug. Doctors are supposed to report to the Food and Drug Administration when patients experience side effects.