Even though Advil is an extremely popular over-the-counter medication used in households across America, Advil side effects may be severe—including the dangerous and life-threatening Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN), the more advanced form of SJS, have both been identified as possible Advil side effects.

Background of Advil

Advil is one of the brand names for the common over-the-counter medication ibuprofen. Ibuprofen was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in 1974.

Ibuprofen drugs, including Advil, belong to a class of medications known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, or NSAIDs. These drugs are used to affect hormones in order to reduce the pain and inflammation often caused by headaches, joint pain, menstrual cramps, and injuries.

Advil Side Effects

While any medication comes with certain minor side effects, Advil side effects also include a more dangerous complication known as Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or SJS. Indeed, ibuprofen and other NSAID drugs have been linked with causing Stevens Johnson Syndrome and its more advanced form, Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN).

It is rare for patients taking Advil to experience these much more serious Advil side effects, but for those who suffer, the effects of these conditions can be devastating and irreversible.

Advil Side Effect: Stevens Johnson Syndrome

Initially, Stevens Johnson Syndrome symptoms resemble flu symptoms. These include fever, cough, fatigue, and sore throat. Shortly thereafter, the recognizable Stevens Johnson Symptom rash breaks out, spreading across a patient’s skin in red or purple lesions and blistering.

Blisters may also form on a person’s mucous membranes in their eyes, mouth, throat, or genital area. Large areas of skin can begin to peel and fall off.

The thing that distinguishes Stevens Johnson Syndrome from its more severe form, Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, is the extent of these rashes. The skin rash of Stevens Johnson Syndrome can spread to cover up to 30 percent of the body in rashes. Any more than 30 percent, and it is reclassified as Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, or TEN.

The difference in severity is an important distinction: indeed, the mortality rate linked with SJS is 15 percent, while the mortality rate of TEN is closer to 40 percent.

Even if the skin rash you’ve developed since taking Advil is mild, it may eventually progress to something more serious, changing to purple or red, blistering, and spreading across the skin. It is best to be cautious with these kinds of Advil side effects, as they may develop into something more severe, and to see a doctor if this happens.

Patients may be left with permanent damage even after recovering from SJS or TEN. Many are left with permanent scarring or discoloration, eye complications, blindness, and more.

Filing a Lawsuit over Advil Side Effects

Advil is one of a number of medications linked with Stevens Johnson Syndrome. If you or someone you love has suffered from Stevens Johnson Syndrome after taking Advil, you may be able to file an Advil side effects lawsuit. While filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering of a condition like Stevens Johnson Syndrome, it can help to alleviate the financial expenses that are inevitably incurred by medical costs and lost wages.