The antibiotic ciprofloxacin may, in rare cases, lead to a debilitating skin condition known as Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

Ciprofloxacin is sold under the brand names Cipro and Proquin. It’s also the active ingredient in Ciloxan Ophthalmic Solution and Ciloxan Ophthalmic Ointment, both made for topical use to treat bacterial infections in the eyes.

Ciprofloxacin is one of a family of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones, or quinolones. Ciprofloxacin and other quinolone antibiotics are in wide use.

In 2011, over 23 million patients received prescriptions for quinolones from retail pharmacies, and 70 percent of those patients received ciprofloxacin. About 3.8 million hospital patients received quinolone antibiotics in the same year. Despite its widespread use, ciprofloxacin and other quinolones come with the risk of developing Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or SJS, is a rare skin condition with symptoms similar to those of severe burns. It most commonly originates as a reaction to a particular drug.

SJS starts with symptoms that resemble the flu – body aches, fever, sore mouth and throat, fatigue, or cough. Within a few days, skin symptoms appear. The characteristic skin symptoms include a red rash that develops into blisters. These blisters may appear on the skin or on the mucous membranes of the mouth, eyes, genitals, nose, or eyes.

As the condition progresses, these blisters may coalesce into large sheets of skin that peel away. If as much as 30 percent of body surface peels away, the condition is then known as toxic epidermal necrolysis, or TEN.

SJS can also lead to secondary conditions such as infections of the skin or blood, inflammation of the eyes, internal organ damage and permanent damage to the skin.

Treatment often requires several weeks of hospitalization, often in a hospital’s burn unit. The first step in treatment is to discontinue whatever medication is causing the SJS.

After that, treatment addresses symptoms for however long the body takes to heal itself. Recovery may take as long as several months.

While SJS and TEN are rare, when they do happen the effects are devastating. The extensive treatment required means patients will spend weeks racking up medical bills instead of earning income at work. Spousal relationships can also be affected.

When Cipro side effects cause that much harm, it may be possible to get compensation through a Cipro lawsuit. Plaintiffs can get compensation by pointing out inadequacies in the warning label that comes with the drug.

The FDA’s labeling requirements for Cipro include one mention of Stevens Johnson Syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. However, the manufacturer’s compliance with the FDA labeling requirements doesn’t necessarily prevent the patient from getting compensated.

In other quinolone lawsuits, many plaintiffs have successfully argued that the warning on the label does not accurately represent the risks involved, and that had they known what the real risks are, they would never have taken that particular drug.

Successful plaintiffs may be compensated for injury, pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical expenses. Some also seek punitive damages, which are generally available when the plaintiff can prove some intentional nature behind a drug manufacturer’s harmful actions.