Blind American girl, 7, sues pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson

[CornField]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/uspharmahealthcompany

...

Sabrina Brierton Johnson's family filed suit against the firm in Los Angeles, accusing it of deceit by concealing the potentially horrific side effects of the over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drug Children's Motrin.

The youngster's parents gave her a recommended dose of the drug after she came home complaining of a headache when she was six, but the drug led to an acute allergic reaction known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, the suit alleged.

The girl and her family claim that Johnson&Johnson learned of the disastrous potential side effects of Children's Motrin during clinical trials but failed to warn consumers.

"Johnson&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 Sabrina's father, Kenneth Johnson.

...

[Javaman]

1. Perhaps we are finally seeing the pharm firms be held accountable..

for their continuned fuck ups.

[dave123williams]

3. Don't hold your breath; they're trying to cap damages at $250k.

$250k for this little girl's eyes; and they knew about the side-effect and didn't tell anybody.

[oneighty]

2. Ah.

Frivolous law suits. Award caps.

Maybe not?

180

[Merlot]

4. Calling John Edwards

In his book "Four Trials" it's clear he fights for children and people vicimized by large corporations who knew of potential dangers but did nothing about them.

It's a good book and gives insight into what makes JE tick. I wonder what he'll do next. I'd love to see him take up the voting issues.

[VegasWolf]

5. Can't let a few blind children stand in the way of corporate profits.n/t

[GarySeven]

6. Another "frivolous" lawsuit

Let's see how long it is before the J&J starts calling it that. Bet the kid and her parents can't wait for their "jackpot" - or do you suppose they'd trade it all for a healthy pair of eyes?

[patdem]

7. Since she is NOT employed at all she has not lost ANY money

so she should not claim ANY compensority damages! Simple as that! If you are a billionair you get to claim a billion dollar loss, if you are a millionair a million, a thousandair, a thousand...a little girl of 7? She has LOST NOTHING except her eyesite...no money in that? :grr:

[GarySeven]

10. Well, then, J&J is really lucky, then!!!

Thank goodness. It would be terrible if they would have to pay a lot of money for deliberately harming this fortune-seeking parasite.

[Straight Shooter]

8. I wonder how many were involved in the clinical trial.

You see, there's something curious about clinical trials. The number of participants that companies use are getting fewer and fewer, the time span is getting shorter and shorter in clinical trials. This is because of the expense of conducting those trials. Also there is the factor that if any of the participants begin experiencing extreme side effects, those participants are taken out of the clinical trial. Thus, the end result is that the drug appears to be safer than it truly is, because those who had extreme reactions to it were taken out of the clinical trial.

Notice how many advertisements include the phrase, "In clinical trials ..." blah, blah, blah. This is code-speak for "we're not telling you it's safe, we're just telling you it's probably safe."

I know from experience that companies do in fact make a conscious decision that it will cost less to pay for damages, to settle lawsuits, than to pull products off the shelf. The competition is fierce, particularly in our drug-obsessed country, and Sabrina is considered collateral damage. In the company's frame of reference, what happened to her is just another cost of doing business.

This is a good time to remind everyone that Mark McClellan, the head of the FDA, is the brother of Scott McClellan, who is bush's mouthpiece for the press.

edit: word substitution

[DemBones DemBones]

22. Actually, Mark McClellan is no longer head of the FDA.

As of a month or so ago, he left for private industry (read: more money.)

[juliagoolia]

9. details

http://www.sjsupport.org/pdf/motrin.pdf

When my daughter was ill with a very bad(super bug) pneumonia in the hospital in San Jose CA the phsician refused to give her any motrin. Only tylenol! This was a critical care pediatric pulmonologist. There are many reasons not to give critically ill children motrin besides SJS. There are also many meds that can cause it other than motrin. Some of the medications are life saving anti-seizure medications that have been around for many years. One of the medications is aspirin.

I think the crime here is that the symptoms of SJS rash were not listed on the children's Motrin when the manufacturer knew it was a possible side affect!

How many of us read the phramaceutical inserts that come with medications. I always ask for them from the phramacist if this is a new medication for me or my family member. I have stopped more than one medication due to symptoms that were listed on inserts, and got my father off a med in ICU that was causing hallucinations. READ THEM ALWAYS!!!

A single dose of Macrobid caused a month long episode of autoimmune reaction in me. All the symptoms listed on the phramaceutical insert but not on the typical pharmacy warning normally dished out with the medication.

[girl gone mad]

28. Tylenol can trigger SJS. too.

In fact, there are a large number of drugs that can cause it, though it's most commonly associated with sulfa drugs, seizure drugs, and analgesics. It can also be caused by common infections and pneumonias.

I'm surprised that Motrin doesn't have an SJS warning, however I'm not sure how much good the warning would do since there is currently no way to predict or prevent the syndrome (aside from completely avoiding medication). Researchers are looking into developing a test which could predict whether a person may be susceptible to a severe drug reaction. SJS is extremely rare, but usually devastating.

[rexcat]

11. For those who keep on bashing the Pharma companies...

please stop taking all medications. From the posts in this thread the Pharma companies are only out to screw everyone. So if you are a diabetic, have a cardiac problem, have cancer, have chronic pain , have hypothyroidism, migraine headaches, severe arthritis, Lupus, or any of the thousands of maladies that afflict humankind I sure from your posts that it is better not to take any medications and live with the disease or condition you have.

Sorry of the heavy dose of sarcasm here but I get tired of reading these threads because these companies also do a lot of good including giving away life saving drugs at little or no cost for those who can't afford them. I see this with patients with cancer. Don't get me wrong, the Pharma companies have their issues (high cost of drugs, inappropriate marketing, drugs that cause problems post-marketing, etc.) but for the most part they do a lot of good. If you want to blame anyone blame the conservatives in Congress for making it easier to advertise prescription drugs to anyone and for easing the regulations so drugs get through the system faster. The major problem currently with the FDA is it plays less of an adversarial roll with the Pharma companies.


Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is an immune-complex–mediated hypersensitivity complex that is a severe expression of erythema multiforme. It is now known also as erythema multiforme major. SJS typically involves the skin and the mucous membranes. While minor presentations may occur, significant involvement of oral, nasal, eye, vaginal, urethral, GI, and lower respiratory tract mucous membranes may develop in the course of the illness. GI and respiratory involvement may progress to necrosis. SJS is a serious systemic disorder with the potential for severe morbidity and even death. http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic555.htm

The following Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) may be associated with this painful and debilitating condition: Bextra® (Valdecoxib), Daypro® (Oxaprozin), Celebrex® (Celecoxib), Vioxx® (Rofecoxib), Arava® (Leflunomide), Feldene® (Piroxicam), Clinoril® (Sulindac), Naprosyn® (Naproxen), Enbrel® (Etanercept), and Remicade® (Infliximab). Other drugs that have also been associated with S-J are sulfonamide antibiotics, quinolones, cephalosporins, aceteminophen and anticonvulsants. http://cwcd.com/CM/MassTorts/MassTorts34.asp

[loyalsister]

12. Thanks

We need some balance here. These guys are one of my larger enemies in life, but I also would be screwed without them.
The only specific omission in your post I noticed was patents. Bush has talked about easing up on those, but so far there have been no efforts to break the trend to preserve endless monopolies for the Pharmacos with some of the newer drugs.
There have to be efforts to get it all back in line. I don't care if they make a REASONABLE profit after having conducted meticulous research under ethical conditions. But, what is happening now is obscene.
There is also a level of patient\physician\pharmacist responsibility that should be noted. The Vioxx situation is one where I have some reservations. I know people who were taking that no matter how sick it made them. This person had an ulcer and, the Dr. would have taken him off of it if he had known, but he didn't tell him. Dr.s need to be watching their patients and patients need to look out for themselves. People need to take a responsibility for reading the inserts.
Bottom line. There aren't enough pain relievers.
AND
If they're going to cap damages, they should be required to take some responsibility for providing thorough patient education.
If there is going to be any legal implication for patient responsibility of knowledge, a monstorous disclosure of clinical literature should be made available and signed for.

[rexcat]

24. I also agree with the patent issue...

I work in the Pharma industry and there are a lot of issues and concerns with the drug companies. I would not trust any of them as far as I could throw them. That said we need a more effective FDA which means we need to get rid of the conservatives running the show because the conservatives don't like regulations but IMO tough regulations and stiff penalties are required because the consequences are to great!

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

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[LeftyMom]

16. You're confusing the issue

This girl wasn't being treated for a serious illness, she had a headache. She was healthy until this happened, but there's a lot of money to be made medicating healthy kids.

[rexcat]

25. So the issue here is the girl had a headache..

Why on earth would a parent give their child Motrin for a flipping headache. If the girl had a severe enough headache that required treatment I think a responsible parent would be calling the pediatrician at a minimum and not medicating them without proper medical supervision. That's my play on this but I worked in a peds hospital as a supervisor for five years and as a parent I would not give my child anything without consulting our pediatrician.

Also the syndrome this girl ended up with is very rare. If your child or for that matter you had a rash after taking a medication the most prudent thing to do is to seek medical care, at least that is what common sense tells me.

[NorthernSpy]

19. that's ALL of the common painkillers except for the opiates

And the laws being what they are, you don't just get to choose to take an opiate, even if doing so would be in your best interest. That's because the almighty State thinks it knows best and so insists on micromanaging our private lives -- right down to how we treat our headache.

[oasis]

21. The Bush plan: Give the girl a $250,000 award and move on. Trial lawyers

are the real culprits.

[cleofus1]

23. i was just gonna say that...

i try to use medications as rarely as possible...but i am glad they are available...my heart goes out to this young girl and her family.

[rexcat]

26. There is nothing worse than having a child end up

disabled like this. One of our twins almost died three days after birth but we were lucky because we noticed something wrong and rushed him to the Children's Hospital emergency department. I spent six agonizing days at the hospital but we were lucky and he turned out fine. I can't imagine losing a child or having to face what these parents are facing but my wife and I came very close to a similar situation. It was a very frightening experience.

[JI7]

13. i saw some pictures and video of the girl

and it looked really bad. i hope they are successful in their lawsuit.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TahitiNut]

17. Wow! All that wasted money on security cameras!

Alert the media! Gee, who would've known? (Sheer genius.)

[ObamaFan2500]

18. They Should Make them Make a Medicine that will fix her eyes

That should be their punshment, plus a big fine, well over a million dollars and stuff.. You can't just blind people with bad drugs, and the DFA has to make the drug process better, with the Prozac hurting children and the Celebrex killing the elderly people

[preciousdove]

20. CO not responsible for allergic reaction

This is really sad and I hate pharmaceutical companies but this is NOT their fault and it might lead to pulling things we need off the market.

When first choice aspirin and Tylenol were not enough to keep my 20 month grandson's fever down below 104 for about 72 hours with a flu this summer children's motrin worked. He would have had brain damage if the fever had not been controlled.

Anyone can have an allergic reaction to anything, anytime. It was the allergic reaction not the medicine that made her blind. She could have been allergic to a filler in the tablet it or the plastic bottle it came in or even something in the water she took it with. That is biologic truth.

I am sorry that it happened but it is not the manufacturer's fault.

[Bridget Burke]

27. The danger was known but Johnson & Johnson hid it.

But your grandkid's OK. So what if the little girl is blind; she isn't related to you.

[gratuitous]

29. Let's see here . . .

Johnson & Johnson makes a lot of money off of Children's Motrin. Unfortunately, Children's Motrin has the unfortunate side effect of blinding some kids who take it. Children's Motrin is sold over the counter, which means that there's no medical professional involved in someone's decision to buy Children's Motrin or give it to their children. Consumers do not have the specialized medical expertise that a doctor or a nurse has.

Now, Johnson & Johnson knew all of the facts in the first paragraph, but the only one that really mattered to the company was the first sentence.

Therefore, let's blame the family, and let the poor pharmaceutical company off the hook.

Do I understand the "tort reform" position correctly?