The Flector Patch is a type of pain control device designed to help people deal with minor aches and pains. However, the medicated patch may be linked to a potentially life-threatening complication called Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or SJS.

The Flector Patch is a medicated patch designed to be worn over muscles suffering from minor sprains or strains. The patch contains a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID, as its active ingredient. NSAIDs are drugs intended to relieve pain and inflammation without the immune-system side effects of steroids or the addictive properties of narcotic painkillers. However, some individuals may experience side effects from NSAIDs, including potentially life-threatening autoimmune reactions like SJS.

In autoimmune reactions, the body attacks itself, mistaking its own tissue for an invading infection. In the case of SJS, the immune system attacks the skin. The reaction starts out with flu-like symptoms. However, the syndrome rapidly gets more serious. The patient experiences blisters, then sores, and ultimately ulcers. In some cases, the damage may spread to the eyes and internal organs. SJS can sometimes prove lethal. Even survivors can face lifelong complications including impaired organ function, blindness, and disfiguring and disabling scarring. SJS requires weeks, or even months, of intensive medical care.

The most serious cases of SJS escalate into a related disorder called Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, or TEN. TEN causes even more serious skin damage. Patches of skin die and slough off, leaving burn-like wounds to the flesh. In fact, the damage so closely resemble burns that hospitals treat cases of TEN in their burn wards. Patients experiencing TEN risk secondary infection, hypothermia, and dehydration due to the fact that large patches of their skin are missing.

The mortality rate of SJS falls on a spectrum depending on the severity of the reaction. When the reaction crosses the threshold into TEN, almost half of patients die from the reaction. With TEN, survivors face the same lifelong complications as those with SJS, but to an even more severe degree. Scarring can cover much of the body, and recovery can take months. Some may never fully recover.

Many details of how SJS is triggered elude medical science. However, it is known that the vast majority of cases are caused by an individual reacting to medications. While certain genes may make a person more likely to develop SJS in response to specific drugs, it is very hard to predict who will develop SJS in response to certain drugs. Therefore, it is currently next to impossible to know who will experience complications like SJS and TEN, and which drugs will trigger it. Antibiotics, antidepressants, and even NSAIDs like the Flector Patch could potentially cause SJS and TEN.