A forensic investigation into a 28-year-old woman who narrowly escaped dying from Stevens Johnson Syndrome after consuming drugs prescribed to treat her cough and cold has suggested that her reaction may have been caused by moxifloxacin, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic sold under the trade name Avelox.

Avelox is a commonly used antibiotic prescribed to treat a variety of bacterial infections.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome is a rare but potentially fatal disorder that causes lesions and blisters to appear on a patient’s skin and mucous membranes (eyes, mouth, genitals.)

The forensic report was released from the laboratory of the hospital where the woman was treated, which confirmed that the patient, Heena K., had contracted Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) after receiving a second dose of moxifloxacin to treat her illness.

Rashes and skin lesions started appearing on Heena three weeks after she started the medication, which suggests that Heena may have become vulnerable to the side effects of Avelox after the first dose, administered on Oct. 10, 2014, which led her to develop Stevens Johnson Syndrome after the second dose on Nov. 21, 2014.

Pictures of Heena’s condition, included in the report, indicate that not only did she suffer from SJS, but she had also suffered from its latent form, Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN), a more severe form of Stevens Johnson Syndrome that causes up to 90% of the patient’s body to be covered in skin lesions.

Overview of Quinolone Stevens Johnson Syndrome

Fluoroquinolones are some of the most popularly prescribed antibiotics in the United States, and are primarily used for treating respiratory and urinary tract infections. Unfortunately, these powerful drugs have been linked to a number of severe side effects including: liver damage, nerve damage, and Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome is a severe allergic skin reaction that can be triggered by medication use. It is often recognized by the red or purple skin lesions that can consume up to 30% of the patient’s skin, which then detaches from the body. This exposes the patient’s muscle and tissue to outside bacteria, furthering the patient’s condition into a downward spiral.

Its more severe form, Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, comes with the same symptoms but progresses much quicker, with its skin lesions taking up to about 90% of the patient’s skin.

Both of these conditions can be fatal if not diagnosed in time, and depending how early, the patient may live with minimal consequences. Unfortunately, this is not the case for most patients, as they are often misdiagnosed before receiving hospital treatment.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome is an extremely rare condition, with only 300 cases diagnosed per year in the United States. This means that most doctors have not encountered this condition before, and often do not recognize it upon the first sighting. More experienced doctors warn that if SJS is going to strike, then it will appear within the first two to eight weeks of starting a medication, and will begin with flu-like symptoms.

Patients who suffer this condition are often treated in the hospital’s burn unit, because most of them require skin grafts.

Other SJS symptoms include: infection, fever, organ damage, and death.

Most of these patients were unaware that they were exposing themselves to the risk of Stevens Johnson Syndrome when taking a medication, leading to lawsuits against drug manufacturers for failing to provide adequate warnings.