Childrens Motrin causing blindness?

[The Cat In The Hat]

Parents might want to be a little cautious.
This was on the news this morning and I looked it up to post here.

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.

Brad Kurtzberg

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Holy shit, 230 operations? On a child? That's so sad.

This is someone who already suffers from SJD.

Anyway, the FDA has issued many warnings for medications that have the potential to cause toxic epidermal necrolysis, erythema multiforme, SJD and other similar disorders. If you pick up a PDR and read up something simple like the clinical side effects of taking acetaminophen, you'd really be suprised at how dangerous of a risk factor something that is prescribed OTC can actually be.

I have a tendency to check for side effects for any medication that is prescribed for me in the PDR, sometimes I psychosomatocize and it wasn't worth reading in the first place, but it's better to be safe then sorry I think?

[Darnell]

All I can say is....Damn (will be going through his medicine cabinet when he gets home)

D
"I just ruined my 100th post with this...guess I'll have to save project "RUN" for 150...."

[Showal]

i dont buy it. Motrin's been used for many many years. Why havent we heard about it until now? Something else was at play, maybe motrin exacerbated it, but it didnt cause it.

[Edaarin]

Never take medication without consulting a doctor. Especially in cases with children, ALWAYS get a medical opinion. Stupid fucking parents...if your kid has a disease, would you give them ANY sort of medication without knowing if it could possibly hurt them?

I usually slam people for being stupid for making lawsuits such as these. I claim that people should read up and take responsibility. Unfortunately for Johnson & Johnson, not this time. They done and fucked up big, says the Nazi.

- Arkans

[Fengus]

I doubt they just pulled this outta their ass and said J&J caused it, its not like some fatass woman slipping on some bacon grease at Denny's and been heard to scream "Paycheck!" as she fell on her ass.

I think the point is valid, if its a known side-effect it should be "known" to the people using the product. These stories amuse, well not amuse, but illustrate the hypocracy of our society, we medicate out the ass and never care about the side effects but a guy can't smoke some pot without jail time.

[The Cat In The Hat]

I've read up about it a bit since my initial post. It seems that there are MANY medications with the right ingredients to cause it. I also spoke to a friend that takes in children for the government, and she's medicated children over 600 times with it and never had an incident, so it's fairly rare. I still feel though, that there should be a warning.

C'mon, toxic shock syndrome is rare, but there's a warning lable on tampons!

[Edited on 12-31-2004 by The Cat In The Hat]

[HarmNone]

Some of the things I've read are calling this an allergic reaction. If it is, in fact, an idiosyncratic reaction in a person who is allergic to the product, or some part of the product, it can't really be predicted, nor can it be called a "side-effect", per se.

Unfortunately, most people don't know they're allergic to something until they have an allergic reaction to that something.
You'd have to put a label on every product known to humankind, since somebody, somewhere, is allergic to just about everything. Hell, we'd have to have bees wear little warning signs.

[The Cat In The Hat]

Good point Harmnone.

[Showal]

I guess my point is this...

It's not children's motrin's fault, per se...

I almost died as an infant when the doctor prescribed sulfa medication for an infection i had. Was it the doctor's fault or the manufacturer's fault? no...could we have sued? probably. Would it have solved anything? no.

They do have warnings about allergies, reactions, and a whole assload of information available through websites and you're supposed to check these things out before use if you've never used it before. You should always check with a doctor too. Shit happens, doctors arent always right, no one knows every possible reaction for every single person...it's not possible.

You take medication, whether it be aspririn or cocaine...there are "side effects" or unknown reactions you could undergo.

I guess the problem you encounter with drug manufacturers is what we're seeing with pfizer and several other drug producers. Did the J and J hide some sort of information they learned about in a previous study? Probably not. Chances are, hundreds of studies have been run using this drug and not once did it become a problem. Think of the thousands of people that use motrin daily, then think of how many people go blind as a result. I bet you'll find the ratio's rather low. It's not J and J's fault, it's not really anyone's fault. It was a sad incident but most likely something that could not have been prevented despite whoever the family contacted.

Yeah I know, long and drawn out. Sorry to bore everyone but I work in research and this is something I have to hear about every day. Drugs undergo a long long process of testing and it can take anywhere between 5-15 years for a drug to get from animal testing to toxicology testing to primate testing to human trials and finally to be released. I dont think many people take this into consideration when they go out and look to blame someone. If they covered something up, they're at fault. If not, you can't really say anyone is.

[Trinitis]

The sad part is, nothing will really come of this. JnJ will settle out of court for a large sum of money, and life will move on

[DeV]

Originally posted by Adredrin
The sad part is, nothing will really come of this. JnJ will settle out of court for a large sum of money, and life will move on Until the next time it happens... Let's hope not and would it be so bad for them to attach additional warning labels to the medicine.

I think all childrens medicine should come with as much information about any and all side effects as possible.