Imagine a Parent's Nightmare When a Child is Harmed by Motrin SJS

Malibu, CAAs 2008 comes to a close, one can imagine the musings of the Sabrina Johnson family as they reflect back on their SJS Motrin lawsuit, and where they go from here. Motrin and SJS has been a part of their daily lives since that fateful day in 2003 when little Sabrina came home from school with a fever—the start of a years-long nightmare. Children's Motrin, and Stevens Johnson Syndrome has been haunting them ever since.

Life is unpredictable. But your life shouldn't have to change as a result of giving your kid a dose of over-the-counter (OTC) medicine. And especially given that the Children's Motrin doled out to Sabrina Johnson that day was an OTC product. Every parent takes a second look at anything that goes past the lips of their child. But it is a common perception that medications sold OTC and readily available on pharmacy shelves are, in relative terms, generally safer than drugs and medications that are locked up behind the pharmacy counter and available only by prescription.

Sabrina Johnson was just an ordinary kid with a fever when she came home from school one afternoon in 2003. Her parents gave her the recommended doses of Children's Motrin that afternoon, and again that evening in an effort to bring down the little girl's fever.

The next morning, their daughter awoke with a high fever. Her eyes had turned pink and her mouth was swollen and had sores. The diagnosis of Stevens-Johnson syndrome was made at the hospital. The damage to her eyes caused great pain, and eventually blinded her.

When Sabrina's parents investigated, they found that while prescription versions of Children's Motrin featured a warning about a link to Stevens Johnson, a lawsuit brought by the family against Motrin's manufacturer found that the OTC versions did not.

There was no warning.

That's why the jury verdict that came down back in July with regard to the family's $1 billion lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, McNeil Consumer Health Care, seemed so incredible.

After deliberating for 3.5 days the Malibu jury in the LA Supreme Court case decided that Johnson & Johnson was not liable for Sabrina's pain and suffering.

"The jury found in this case that Johnson & Johnson and McNeil, their wholly owned subsidiary, knew of the dangerous risk of side effects inherent in this drug," said a lawyer close to the case, when the verdict was announced. "(The jury) found (the manufacturer) failed to warn adequately of these risks and yet found the failing to warn had nothing to do with the injuries. In other words they found that a better warning would not have made a difference."

The reaction of the family's legal team says it all: "Incredible beyond the evidence."
Johnson & Johnson used the occasion to re-affirm that in their view, their product is safe and effective.

The family appealed the decision, and lawyers representing plaintiffs in other actions don't think that the July decision in California will adversely affect other cases in the pipeline. And there may be more, because even though SJS is rare, it does happen.

It has been reported that drug reactions cause about 80 percent of all cases of Stevens Johnson Syndrome. While Children's Motrin isn't the only medication that has been linked to SJS, a study published in 2003 reported a significant risk for ibuprofen (Children's Motrin).

It has also been reported that there is evidence to support the view that pre-existing infections combined with the ingestion of one of the aforementioned drugs lay at the root of a synergistic effect that leads to the rare, but painful SJS.

A condition that can carry lifelong issues, and in some cases can even be fatal.

Drugs and medications were meant to improve our lives—and in many instances, they do. However, the massive size and influence of the pharmaceutical industry coupled with the availability of drugs for just about any affliction has long fuelled the debate as to whether, or not we are over-medicated as a society.

That coupled with an overwhelmed Food and Drug Administration suggests an unsettling, if not dangerous environment for the consumer.

SJS Motrin is but one example of a medication, sold over the counter, thought to be generally safe, but also linked to the rare but very real Children's Motrin Stevens Johnson Syndrome. Motrin and SJS may, indeed be rare. But tell that to the children who have gone through hell inside their skin, and have even been blinded by this horrific reaction.
And ask that of the jury in California, who decided a pharmaceutical giant worth billions of dollars was not required to pay a cent to a little girl who was harmed just because she came home from school with a fever, and swallowed the medicine that her mommy said would make her feel better…