The antibiotic Cipro is manufacturer Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals’ brand name for ciprofloxacin.

The FDA originally approved Cipro in 1987, and it is now approved as a treatment for both complicated and uncomplicated urinary tract infections as well as acute uncomplicated pyelonephritis.

Cipro is part of a class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones, or simply quinolones. These antibiotics are in very wide use: more than 26 million patients in the United States take some type of fluoroquinolone antibiotics every year, and they comprise over 16 percent of the world market for antibiotics.

Cipro Side Effects

Despite its usefulness, Cipro does come with the risk of certain side effects. One possible side effect that Cipro shares with other quinolones is an increase in the risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture in patients of all ages. This Cipro side effect most frequently affects the Achilles tendon. This risk is greater in older patients, and it can be aggravated by strenuous physical activity, renal failure, and previous tendon disorders.

Another possible Cipro side effect is the exacerbation of a condition known as myasthenia gravis. Myasthenia gravis in its most common form is a type of autoimmune muscular disorder that causes fluctuating weakness in voluntary muscle groups. Some Cipro users who had mysasthenia gravis reported even greater muscle weakening during their course of Cipro.

One of the most dramatic and damaging (though fortunately also very rare) side effects of Cipro is a condition known as Stevens Johnson Syndrome. This condition causes painful lesions on the skin and mucous membranes. In its most severe cases, it can be fatal.

Where Stevens Johnson Syndrome is caused by a drug like Cipro, its characteristic symptoms begin about one to three weeks after beginning to the drug regiment. Typically, SJS symptoms start with fever, headache, cough, body aches, or inflammation of the eyes.

Then a drug rash breaks out over the trunk, neck and face. This drug rash spreads and forms blisters in the center of the affected areas. The skin over these blisters becomes loose and easy to rub off. They tend to peel off over a period of one to three days. In cases where a very large amount of skin peels away, the condition may be referred to as toxic epidermal necrolysis, or TEN.

Similar drug rash lesions form on the mucous membranes that line the inside of the eyelids, mouth, throat, and digestive system. These lesions can make it difficult for the patient to eat or even open their eyes.

This loss of skin can put the patient at risk for dangerous complications like dehydration, organ failure and infection. In cases where Stevens Johnson Syndrome or toxic epidermal necrolysis end in death, these infections are the most frequent cause of death.

SJS Lawsuits

The severe damage associated with SJS and its potential relationship to a pharmaceutical cause have been the basis of some patients’ SJS lawsuits. Attorneys who work on SJS cases say that some drug manufacturers may fail to provide an adequate warning about the risks of SJS and TEN.

The severe harm associated with SJS and TEN has translated into million-dollar jury awards and settlement agreements in some successful legal claims. One young SJS victim’s $50 million judgment was upheld on appeal by the Massachusetts high court in April 2015.