If you or someone you know has been suffering from the life-threatening Stevens Johnson Syndrome reaction, you may have a legal claim.

This skin condition has been linked with a number of antibiotics and other medications.

How Do You Get Stevens Johnson Syndrome?

Since this is a relatively rare reaction someone may want to know — how do you get Stevens Johnson Syndrome? This serious side effect has been associated with a number of different antibiotic medications, including azithromycin.

If an antibiotic side effect appears to be bothersome (painful, getting in the way of daily activities) or otherwise serious, immediately seek medical help. In some cases, patients may need to be taken off the antibiotic, but in other cases the side effects are manageable and can be treated while on the original antibiotic treatment.

Mild antibiotic allergic reactions are usually a simple skin rash or something similar. However, it is important to note that these kinds of antibiotic side effects can progress into something more harmful, or even fatal.

Azithromycin Basics

Zithromax (azithromycin), a popular antibiotic also marketed as Z-Pak and Z-max, can result in mild allergic reactions, but has also been linked with the painful and even fatal skin rash known as Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or Zithromax SJS.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked that the drug’s manufacturer, Pfizer Inc., include on the Zithromax label a warning about the increased risk of developing azithromycin SJS.

What is Zithromax SJS?

Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is a life-threatening skin condition, and symptoms of this disease should be considered a medical emergency.

The skin condition is essentially an allergic reaction to azithromycin, but can become so severe the symptoms resemble burns. SJS is often treated in a hospital’s burn unit due to these similarities.

At first, Zithromax SJS symptoms may be similar to the flu. Patients who have SJS report chills, body aches, and fevers, which by themselves are not altogether concerning.

It is important to be highly aware of these symptoms, however, because if they lead to SJS, the condition can be fatal. If the condition does progress, a purple or red rash spreads quickly across the skin, blistering and letting the top layer of skin die and shed off.

SJS rashes are painful, and can cover up to 30 percent of the body. If more than 30 percent of the body is covered in these rashes, the condition is referred to as Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, or TEN.

TEN is simply a more severe and dangerous form of SJS, and comes with a greater risk of fatality. While the SJS mortality rate is at 15 percent (still a concerning number), the rate of fatalities in TEN cases is 40 percent.

Zithromax SJS Lawsuits

A woman recently filed an azithromycin Stevens Johnson Syndrome lawsuit, alleging that Pfizer failed to adequately warn consumers about the possibility of SJS reaction.  Plaintiff Mary A. alleges that her daughter suffered from a severe SJS allergic reaction just after taking azithromycin in 2009.

The azithromycin complications lasted for months, requiring continued care and treatment for inflammation of sensitive areas such as the mouth, throat, and eyelids. Her daughter also suffered from blisters on her skin, the SJS lawsuit claims.

Ultimately, the Zithromax lawsuit claims that the child’s parents would not have given her azithromycin if they had been adequately warned about the unreasonably dangerous side effects of the antibiotic medication.

Azithromycin lawsuits like these accuse Pfizer of downplaying the severity of azithromycin side effects while simultaneously over-marketing the medication to both patients and the wider medical community. Plaintiffs claim that, had they been adequately warned of the dangers surrounding azithromycin, they would have chosen a safer alternative.

If you or a loved one has experienced Stevens Johnson Syndrome or other serious symptoms after taking Zithromax (azithromycin), you should seek medical help immediately, you may have reason to file a Zithromax SJS lawsuit.