Family of Stevens Johnson Syndrome Victim Awarded $10 Million

Philadelphia, PAA case of Stevens Johnson Syndrome that affected the life of a child is going to cost the manufacturer of Motrin $10 million dollars, following a jury verdict last month. Stevens Johnson Syndrome, also known as SJS, can be triggered by an allergic reaction to seemingly harmless, over-the-counter pain medication.

That's what happened to Brianna Maya. Now 13, she was little more than three-and-a-half years old when she was given Motrin to ease the suffering caused by a fever and persistent cough.

The resulting Stevens Johnson Syndrome rash quickly escalated to a much more serious situation, eventually leaving the child with severe burns to 84 percent of her body. Brianna Maya was also left blind in one eye.

According to a Bloomberg News report published May 20, jurors in a Philadelphia state court earlier that day ruled that Motrin manufacturer McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), must pay the Maya family $10 million dollars in damages for the harm caused to their little girl.

Previously, Stevens Johnson Syndrome lawyers have seen the pendulum of justice swing wildly in the SJS portfolio. Last year, a federal jury in Illinois awarded $3.5 million in damages to a woman from Illinois who developed SJS after taking Children's Motrin—although a judge dismissed the award based on procedural grounds.

And in 2008, a jury in California cleared J&J as well as McNeil Healthcare from liability after an 11-year-old girl had ingested pain relief medication, only to develop Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

For the Maya family, the outcome was more successful—although it is unknown if the verdict would be appealed by the defendant.

Court heard that little Brianna suffered rash, skin lesions, eye infections and lung damage after taking Children's Motrin in 2000. Plaintiffs testified they were not aware that Children's Motrin could cause Stevens Johnson Syndrome symptoms in their child, and alleged the manufacturer was negligent for not specifically warning about the potential for Stevens Johnson Syndrome on product labeling or packaging.

The jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas agreed with the plaintiff's stance, noting the failure to warn was "a factual cause" of the injuries sustained by the little girl.

While the jury did not agree that the pain medication was defective, or that punitive damages were in order, the jury did extend a damages award about twice what the plaintiffs had been seeking.