The lawsuit seeks stronger label warnings and punitive damages against drugmaker Johnson and Johnson. The girl, Sabrina Johnson, was 6 in September 2003 when she was sent home from school with a fever. Her parents gave her Children's Motrin drops that afternoon and again that night.
Sabrina Brierton Johnson's case is the first to be tried against Johnson and Johnson claiming that an allergic reaction (Stevens-Johnson Syndrome) to taking Children's Motrin in 2003 caused her to become blind among other serious injuries.
McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals, a division of McNeil-PPC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson), is a co-defendant in the case. There has reportedly been a long-known link between ibuprofen, the active ingredient in Motrin, and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
Children's Motrin is an over-the-counter, seemingly benign medication that is often given to treat fever and pain in children. Though the prescription version of the drug has stronger warnings, the over-the-counter version mentions nothing about this risk.
The trial began June 5, 2008 and is expected to last six-weeks. The lawsuit now demands that ibuprofen products carry warning labels and also asks compensation for medical and legal expenses, pain and suffering, and punitive damages. Sabrina is not only permanently blinded, but also left highly sensitive to light as a result of which she has to wear a large hat while stepping out.
Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a rare, often fatal adverse reaction triggered by many different kinds of drugs, particularly certain antibiotics and some painkillers. Apart from Sabrina's case, there are 15 known cases of Stevens-Johnson syndrome in children who took ibuprofen in addition to 12 more cases in which children were harmed.
Also, there are at least nine others lawsuit scheduled in 2008 and next in cities across the U.S. that seek stronger label warnings and punitive damages against drugmakers.
