A 13-year-old boy in England was diagnosed with Stevens Johnson Syndrome after taking ibuprofen to treat cold symptoms in November 2013.

Max Brown’s mother gave him Ibuprofen, something she had done many times before. There’s no such thing as immunity to SJS, and just because a person has taken a drug for years doesn’t mean they he or she won’t get an SJS reaction in the future.

Max quickly developed the tell-tale SJS blisters. He would scream in pain when anyone even lightly touched him. The cells in his skin began dying as they sloughed off, and he spent over a month in the hospital.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome: Learn More

His mother, Nicola Wheatley, was told that he might not survive the allergic reaction he was having to ibuprofen. Max’s body reacted violently as the blisters quickly spread and his lips gave way to blackness.

In the intensive care unit at the hospital, Max spent four weeks in and out of consciousness, his body’s natural reaction to the severe pain he was in.

Although the doctors did their best to manage the pain, it was still necessary to regularly clean the body (an excruciating daily process) in order to ward off infection.He spent much of the month on a ventilator.

“The doctors were 100 percent certain that the Ibuprofen caused Max’s reaction,” Wheatley said. “I didn’t now he was allergic, he had taken Ibuprofen before years ago. It was the biggest shock of my life.”

The family lives in Esher, Surrey in the UK. There have been cases of ibuprofen SJS reactions around the globe. However, ibuprofen isn’t the only drug linked to this allergy. Other over-the-counter painkillers such as Tylenol, the popular antibiotic Zithromax and a number of anti-seizure medications often prescribed to young children who suffer from epilepsy have also been linked to SJS. There are reports as toddlers as young as two dying of SJS from an adverse reaction to a medication.

In Max’s case, Wheatley gave him the ibuprofen and then noticed that he didn’t seem to be recovering from his cold so she kept him home from school for a few days. Since he wasn’t getting better, she continued with the ibuprofen regimen.

However, a couple of days later, his entire body was covered with a rash and blisters. Wheatley took Max to the family doctor, but was referred immediately to the local hospital.

At first, doctors had no idea what was wrong. Few doctors have had first hand experience with SJS.

“It is the most horrific thing for a parent to have to see their child suffer the way Max has,” Wheatley added. “I was devastated. My son was so ill and I couldn’t hold him or kiss him. He was screaming because his skin was so raw. I felt helpless. Nobody could tell us what was happening because nobody knew.”

A specialist was brought in for further testing and finally an SJS diagnosis was made.

However, even with the right diagnosis Max’s conditioned worsened in the ICU for a full week. He wasn’t able to open his eyes and his whole body was raw.

“That was the worst thing for me. I had no idea if he was going to get better or not. I was stuck in limbo watching my son’s health deteriorate,” Max’s mother said.

When Max was transferred to a different hospital, he was placed on an around-the-clock morphine drop and the 13-year-old boy only weighed 40 pounds.

“Max needed help breathing and had bandages covering his entire body. Every day he would have to have the bandages changed to stop infection, but I could see he was in agony whenever anyone touched his skin.”

Finally, after four weeks, Max’s body started to fight back and heal itself.

“I am so proud of him for pulling through. He will have scars for the rest of his life, but it is a small price to pay when he nearly died,” Wheatley said. “More research needs to be done to help SJS sufferers. It is a horrific illness and causes so much disfigurement and pain.”

Most people have taken ibuprofen or another similar over the counter (OTC) painkiller before. However, what most people don’t know is that these seemingly harmless painkillers have been increasingly linked to Stevens Johnson Syndrome, a severe skin reaction that’s easily misdiagnosed in early stages and can easily turn deadly.

SJS Lawsuit: Drug Maker Negligence

Even worse, the drugs it’s associated with, such as ibuprofen, are often given to young children.

SJS starts as a rash, but “pre-symptoms” can include common things such as a fever or headache. SJS covers up to 30 percent of the body, if it covers more than that it becomes Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, which is also called skin death.

There’s no cure for either SJS or TEN, and most victims are treated in the burn centers of hospitals across the country. Doctors, assuming a correct diagnosis is made, can only treat the symptoms and pain, hoping that the body remains free of infection so that it can heal itself. It is a very painful process.

SJS is still a rare reaction, but perhaps not as rare as people think. There have been so many recent cases of SJS caused by medications that an SJS class action lawsuit is gaining in popularity.