This is a parent’s worst nightmare.
PHOTOS: Marijuana Kills? Teen Narrowly Escapes Death After Smoking Synthetic Marijuana!
In 2003, Samantha Reckis, who was 7-years-old at the time, took a dose of Children’s Motrin to combat a fever. But the medicine gave Samantha an allergic reaction of the worst kind. She suffered blindness and the ibuprofen caused 90 percent of her skin to fall off.
According to the Daily Mail:
The condition (Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis), while rare, is a severe allergic reaction to medications such as barbiturates, penicillins, and sulphonamides, and causes the top layer of skin – the epidermis- to detach from the lower layers.
As many as 40 percent of people diagnosed with the illness die of complications from infection.
Samantha had to undergo 19 surgeries to correct her injuries from the 2003 incident. Her family sued the drug’s manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson.
Family attorney Bradley Henry told the Boston Globe that Ms. Reckis’ condition was excruciating.
‘It’s like having your skin burned off of you,’ he told the paper. ‘Imagine your worst sunburn times 1,000. It’s an absolutely devastating condition.’
He also said that the bottle of Children’s Motrin only had a small technical warning on the bottle that didn’t warn consumers of potential adverse side-effects.
The family was rewarded with a hefty sum of money for their troubles.
VIDEO: DAMN! Teen Suffers Serious Face Wound, Blames NYPD For Police Brutality
In total, the Plymouth, Massachusetts Superior Court jury ruled that Ms Reckis and her parents should be awarded at total of $109 million by Johnson & Johnson and its subsidy McNeil-PPC Inc, including interest.
The company released a statement regarding Samantha’s reaction to their medicine.
A spokeswoman for New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. told the Associated Press that the girl’s family has suffered a tragedy but the company disagrees with the verdict and is ‘considering additional legal options.’
The company said in a statement: ‘Children’s Motrin (ibuprofen), when used as directed, is a safe and effective treatment option for minor aches and pains and fever and we believe the medicine is labelled appropriately.’
Wow, be careful with any medicine that you take! We wouldn’t want that happening to anyone else!
SOURCE: Daily Mail
