Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Awareness Day - 22nd October 2025

Thank you to our member Diane Corrigan for sharing an important message ahead of Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Awareness Day, highlighting the risks linked to these antibiotics and their connection to M.E.

The second Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Awareness Day takes place on 22nd October. This is a worldwide event created by a young lady in the USA called Talia Smith who has been severely harmed by a Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic. Talia has a large social media presence and website This is Floxed she presents a show available to watch on YouTube Here

A committee is set up each year which comprises of volunteers representing countries from around the world who each focus on rallying their own country to participate. As some members of Hope 4 ME NI may already know I too have been iatrogenically harmed by the Fluoroquinolone antibiotic Ciprofloxacin which actually triggered my M.E. I am the representative for U.K. again this year. The objective is that on Awareness day we get as many people, all over the world, to flood social media with posts on Fluoroquinolone Toxicity, so that when anyone is on their socials that day they will see at least one post, that way we will truly raise awareness and get the word out.

The more we can do more to raise awareness about the dangers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics some of which are Ciprofloxacin, Levofloxacin, Moxifoxacin and Ofloxacin. Our friends in the USA are currently celebrating the fact that the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) recognised fluoroquinolone toxicity as a diagnosis and the actual ICD codes came into practice there on the 1st October this year.

Unfortunately in the U.K we do not have ICD code yet. In fact, here in the UK we still have doctors (at all levels) saying things like "the pains can't be from the Fluoroquinolone antibiotic as it will have left your body after 3 weeks". This is despite the packet leaflet stating that Ciprofloxacin and its siblings can cause "Prolonged, disabling and potentially irreversible serious side effects" and that "Inflammation and ruptures of tendons may occur within the first 48 hours of treatment and even up to several months after stopping of Ciprofloxacin tablets therapy."

Fluoroquinolone Toxicity, is formally described as mitochondrial damage. They cross the blood brain barrier and make it into our cells, which means the antibiotic penetrates into the mitochondria, leading to oxidative stress (free radicals), mitochondrial damage, reduced ATP (energy at cellular level) and epigenetic.

If you're prescribed an antibiotic just check if it's a fluoroquinolone, the packet leaflet will say but the pharmacist - or doctor should actually warn you before giving them to you but unfortunately they generally don't. There are mutiple Medical Health Regulatory Authority (MHRA) warnings on these antibiotics, the most recent in January 2024 stating must now only be prescribed when other commonly recommended antibiotics are inappropriate. The MHRA released in June this year their Public assessment report entitled Review of risk minimisation for disabling and potentially long-lasting/irreversible side effects associated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics which although was much needed more still needs to be done.

It is somewhat disappointing that not all regulatory actions to minimise risk are being implemented, the restricting on who can prescribe was not accepted and timelines or firm commitments with regards to the MHRA liaising with stakeholders so that warnings pop up with electronic prescribing have not been given. The European Medical Association’s (EMA) report published in 2019 acknowledged that fluoroquinolones cause mitochondrial dysfunction and cell damage, which are cited as the main reasons for the diverse and long lasting ‘side effects’.

Neither the EMA nor MHRA have ever included this information in their later DSUs yet it is available in the public domain. The result is that the majority of HCPs remain very sceptical about the levels of damage that can be inflicted by fluoroquinolones while we, the long-term sufferers, bang our heads against their professional stone wall.

The ME Association have also stated ‘The fluoroquinolone group of antibiotics are best avoided unless really necessary’.

Just because they are strong and effective does not warrant them being prescribed for a suspected infection or an infection where an alternative is more suited without potentially inflicting serious side effects which can cause life long disability.

If you have been or think you may have been affected you can obtain help, support and information from FluoroQuinolone Support U.K. Here

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19/10/2025