The number of quinolone SJS lawsuits continues to steadily rise as majority of patients remain unaware that a side effect as severe as Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is possible with their antibiotics. The medical community also remains largely oblivious, as Stevens Johnson Syndrome is seldom mentioned on drug labels due to its rarity, leading to many misdiagnosed SJS cases before doctors come to the correct conclusion.

Unfortunately, it is normally at that stage that the patient’s skin is melting off and they are fighting for their life in a hospital bed. Stevens Johnson Syndrome is infamously characterized by red or purple skin lesions that appear all over a patient’s skin, which then proceeds to peel off in sheets. This extreme allergic skin reaction is specifically caused by one or more quinolone antibiotics and is often not clearly mentioned on these medication labels. More severe quinolone SJS side effects include permanent skin damage, internal organ damage, mucus scarring, and swelling of the throat.

Quinolone SJS Concerns

It is common for pharmaceuticals companies to omit this quinolone side effect on their drug labels because of how unlikely it is for patients to develop Stevens Johnson Syndrome. There are approximately 300 cases of SJS diagnosed per year in the United States, with most of them in adults.

Because quinolone SJS is so rare, medical experts seldom recognize it upon first inspection and often do not realize SJS symptoms until a latent stage. It is also important to note that over 100 drugs have been noted to cause Stevens Johnson Syndrome including the ever-popular quinolones.

Quinolone antibiotics are primarily prescribed to treat minor and serious bacterial infections, like a urinary tract infection, and can be prescribed to all ages. Some popular quinolone medications include:

• Ciprofloxacin (Cipro)
• Levofloxacin (Levaquin)
• Lomefloxacin (Maxaquin)
• Moxifloxacin (Avelox)
• Norfloxacin (Noroxin)
• Ofloxacin (Floxin)
• Sparfloxacin (Zagam)
• Trovafloxacin (Trovan)

Each of the quinolone antibiotics mentioned above have been indicated to cause symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome in patients, though most of their drug labels do not give patients an inkling that the SJS side effect was possible.

From 1997 to 2010, the FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (AERS) had documented 2,500 deaths that were allegedly caused by quinolone antibiotics adverse effects, with another 45,000 quinolone injury reports.

Levaquin has been one of the most frequently prescribed quinolone antibiotics mentioned in these claims, with more than 2,000 Levaquin lawsuits alleging that the drug causes severe side effects.

Furthermore, the FDA suggests that 10 percent of drug injury reports go unreported, meaning that there are probably a number of quinolone SJS reports that go unreported.

Experts state that is not surprising with how infrequently patients and physicians encounter this condition, though more experienced practitioners state that SJS begins with flu-like symptoms and will occur within the first two to eight weeks of starting the medication. Another concern of diagnosing quinolone-related Stevens Johnson Syndrome is that doctors currently have no way of predicting who may be likely to get an SJS reaction, but state that the chances are higher if a patient is taking more than one drug.

Combined with the severity of the SJS and how little medical physicians initially recognize it, it is vital for drug labels to include a warning regarding symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome if the quinolone antibiotic may cause SJS.

A number of injured patients have taken legal action against drug manufacturers for failing to protect them against this side effect, with quinolone SJS being some of the most frequently reported.