Children's Motrin and Link to Blindness!!!!!???
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion Archive: Archive January 2005:
Children's Motrin and Link to Blindness!!!!!???
Read this the other day in the paper:
Parents Claim Children's Motrin Caused Blindness
The parents of a seven year-old California girl as suing Johnson & Johnson, the makers of children's Motrin, claiming that an allergic reaction to the pain medication caused their daughter to go blind.
The girl, Sabrina Brierton, suffered a condition known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome which causes a rash of the skin and the body's mucous membranes. It can be fatal.
The lawsuit is asking that a warning label be added to packages of children's Motrin and for damages as a result of Sabrina's injuries.
'Johnson and Johnson made a reckless, callous decision when it decided not to tell the public that Stevens-Johnson Syndrome is one of the adverse side effects of taking Children's Motrin,' said Kenneth Johnson, Sabrina's father. 'We hope that this lawsuit will put an end to their indifference,' he added.
Sabrina's mother, Joan Brierton Johnson said, 'In the name of children everywhere, our family wants Children's Motrin taken off the market until it carries a warning label about the risk of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and describes its symptoms. 'Had there been appropriate warnings on the Children's Motrin that we gave Sabrina, we would have known what to look for and would have known to stop giving her the drug and call a doctor,' she claimed.
Sabrina has had over 230 operations in an attempt to restore her vision but none have been successful. She is unable to open her eyes on her own and has a strong sensitivity to light.
Officials at Johnson & Johnson could not be reached for comment.
Stevens-Johnson is a devastating illness that I believe ANY medicine can cause. Fortunately it's very rare, but when you're the one in a million....well, you get upset! But really, don't panic...you take the chance of getting this illness all the time and how many people do you know who have had this?
I agree. As a pharmacist I see Stevens-Johnson syndrome listed on a lot of drugs. It is an adverse effect from a medication. So many meds are perfectly safe for so many people. Ibuprofen is a wonderful product and is a great help. But the bottom line is if you are takiing ANY medication and develop anything out of the ordinary-rash, difficulty breathing, muscle aches, vision problems, etc--stop taking the medication and consult your doctor immediately. Stevens-Johnson does not have to get this bad. I have known of several cases where I work that when the medication was stopped, the symptoms went away with no lasting effect. But it can have very drastic effects if not caught promptly.
It is very unfortunate for this family that this has happened and my heart goes out to them.
I think the other thing that strikes me weird is this " 'Had there been appropriate warnings on the Children's Motrin that we gave Sabrina, we would have known what to look for and would have known to stop giving her the drug and call a doctor,'
Please if you hear anything from this post, please let it be this. No matter what your child has eaten, taken, etc. If they swell up, get rashes etc, don't just try another dose or another taste. Allergic reactions happen all the time. They are not something to mess with! Medicine is supposed to make you better, if you get worse with the first dose call your doc, they would tell you if that was supposed to happen. We are the only ones who can protect ourselves, use COMMON sense!
It's terrible what happened to that child, but there's always a risk whenever you put medications in your body. Nothing is 100% safe.
Another thing to remember about allergic reactions is they can come on at any time, even if you've taken a medication before. Robin and I both have drug allergies and in both our cases the rash showed up on the 10th day of our doses. Mine showed up a couple years before Robin's and I thought, surely this can't be related to the medication I've been on for over a week??? A quick call to the ER said otherwise. They said if I'd taken my morning dose I probably would have had much worse problems than just the rash/hives I did have. So when Robin's rash showed up on his 10th day, I knew not to give him any more and to call his doctor.
The number of operations is wrong. She's had 23, which is still a lot. The whole thing is very tragic. Yes, one in a million, but when your child is that one, it is horrible!
The family took her to the hospital the very next day and doctors put her in isolation, obviously thinking that she had some sort of infectious disease. It wasn't until it was too late that they diagnosed her with Stevens-Johnson.
If there had been a warning, perhaps the docs would have thought of Stevens-Johnson right away and treated her approprately.
Also, when Children's Motrin was a prescription drug, it carried the warning, but the warning was removed when it became OTC. The makers of Children's Motrin were well aware that this was a side effect and had seen several cases in the trials they did at Boston Hospital before the drug was approved for OTC.
I wonder if they are also suing the docs for malpractice ...
Ame
The first thought that came to my mind on this post was "How many millions will they sue for?"
I've heard of it, it's rare. It won't stop me from giving it to DD. There *had* to be some sort of ignored symptoms on the parents part for the daughter to have to go through many of surgeries with no improvement.
Also, if Stevens-Johnson can occur with multiple drugs, shouldn't doctors be taught about it in med school so it's *not* overlooked. I know the medical world isn't perfect but honestly, are we going to start wasting more paper to put warning for drugs with a one in a million chance as well? And I honestly doubt those parents would have stopped giving Motrin if the warning was indeed on the label.
The whole media intervention with the medical world is just a big joke to me! 
I really think this is a bit of a frivilous. I don't know anything about this disease, but if Motrin weren't safe wouldn't we know by now?? I mean it's certainly not a *new* drug. I feel for this girl and her parents, but this is just crazy.
YEah, thats what I was thinking Crystal, since Motrin (Ibuprofen) was discovered in the late 1800's.
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