Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is a severe skin and mucous membrane condition that can cause peeling and blistering across a person’s skin.

Symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome often lead to pain, eye problems, secondary skin infection, and organ damage.

If the rash-like symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome cover less than 10 percent of a person’s body surface area, it is considered to be a milder form of SJS.

A more severe form of SJS is called Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, or TEN. When SJS progresses to cover more than 30 percent of a patient’s skin, it is reclassified as TEN.

The significance of this classification is simply to distinguish between the extent and severity of the illness, as TEN is a more dangerous condition with a higher fatality rate. The space between this, where 10 to 30 percent of the skin is affected, is overlap between SJS and TEN.

Recovery from symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome can take from weeks to months. It can also be a life-threatening condition. Indeed, between five and 15 percent of SJS conditions lead to fatalities.

TEN is more dangerous—between 30 and 40 percent of patients die.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome has been linked as an allergic reaction with a variety of drugs. These drugs include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Phenytoin
• Carbamazepine
• Oxcarbazepine
• Valproic acid
• Lamotrigine
• Barbiturates

Symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome have also been lined with a variety of genetic factors, racial, sexual, and age factors, and others.

Symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome

Common symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome usually introduce as flu-like. They may include the following:

• Cough producing thick, pus-like mucous
• Headache
• Malaise
• Skin pain
• Hives
• Joint pain
• Rash

Treatment of Stevens Johnson Syndrome

In general, SJS patients are usually tended by treating symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome. Symptomatic treatment of SJS means that, since rash symptoms are so burn-like with skin separation, the condition is often treated very similarly to severe burns in a hospital. Infection is the biggest risk.

Even after a patient has been treated, symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome may persist. Continual symptoms may include:

• Inverted eyelashes
• Photophobia
• A burning sensation in the eyes
• Watery eyes
• Corneal and conjunctival neovascularization
• Blindness

In most cases of Stevens Johnson Syndrome and TEN, patients are left with permanent scarring. SJS can cover a large portion of the body, so the scarring can be both widespread and disfiguring.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome Lawsuits

Many people taking these drugs linked with symptoms of Stevens Johnson Syndrome are not aware of the serious side effects which, though unlikely, do occur.

If you or someone you know has experienced symptoms of SJS or TEN while using any of these drugs and believe you were not adequately warned about the potentially severe side effects, you may have cause for filing a Stevens Johnson Syndrome lawsuit for medical and financial damages.