A teenager who went blind and lost 90% of her skin after suffering a horrifying allergic reaction to the pain reliever Children's Motrin has won $63 million in compensation. Samantha Reckis was only 7 when she took the children's ibuprofen, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, around Thanksgiving 2003 to ward off the symptoms of a fever.
But rather than heal her, the drug induced toxic epidermal necrolysis — a potentially fatal condition that causes the top layer of skin, the epidermis, to detach from the lower layers. The rare ailment kills 40% of those diagnosed with it — and comes from a severe allergic reaction to medications such as barbiturates, penicillins and sulphonamides.
Attorneys for Reckis argued that the bottle only had a small technical warning, which didn't warn consumers of potential adverse side effects.
It led to a Massachusetts jury to rule that Reckis and her parents should be paid the staggering sum by Johnson & Johnson and its subsidy McNeil-PPC Inc.
Samantha, who underwent 19 bouts of surgery following the incident, was awarded $50 million and her parents were each given $6.5 million. But the Boston Globe reports that the amount could yet be increased up to $109 million as the trial judge still has to review the awards. The Massachusetts family's attorney Bradley Henry said Samantha's condition was "excruciating".
He said: "It's like having your skin burned off of you. Imagine your worst sunburn times 1,000. It's an absolutely devastating condition." Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., based in New Brunswick, N.J. said it was considering an appeal of the verdict.
A statement read: "Children's Motrin, 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
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