Azithromycin, a widely used antibiotic medication, may present a more dangerous antibiotic reaction than patients are aware of.

While most antibiotics come with some sort of side effects, some have reported that an antibiotic reaction to azithromycin may lead to the dangerous and even life-threatening condition known as Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or SJS.

Azithromycin is manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Inc., and is also sold as Zithromax, Z-pak, and Z-max.

Since the rise of reports claiming SJS is associated with Azithromycin, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked the drug’s manufacturer to include a warning label about the risk of an antibiotic reaction like Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

Antibiotic Reactions to Azithromycin

While most reactions to Azithromycin and other antibiotics are mild, not painful, and will go away on their own without further treatment, it is still important to be cautious. In some cases, a mild skin rash can become more severe over time.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome is the most dangerous antibiotic reaction associated with Azithromycin, and because it can be fatal, patients taking Azithromycin should be aware of its symptoms and seek medical attention when necessary.

Some patients will need to be taken off the antibiotic, and others may need treatment only for the symptoms. Others still, in rarer cases, will need further medical treatment to take care of SJS.

What is Azithromycin SJS?

Stevens Johnson Syndrome, often known as SJS, is a severe antibiotic allergic reaction associated with Azithromycin and other drugs that has the potential to become life threatening. SJS requires immediate hospital treatment.

Its rash symptoms are so severe that they develop like burns, and are therefore often treated in a hospital’s burn unit. An SJS rash spreads quickly, blistering and peeling across the skin, and is very painful.

SJS can cover a large expanse of skin. Once an SJS rash spreads to cover more than 30 percent of a patient’s skin, it becomes reclassified as Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN).

TEN is simply a more severe form of SJS; patients whose symptoms have progressed to TEN are at a much greater fatality risk. The SJS fatality rate is 15 percent, which is concerning enough, however, TEN patients face an increased risk of up to 40 percent.

The patients who do survive SJS or TEN are, in many cases, left with severe scarring that can mar or deform their skin where their rashes once were.

SJS Lawsuits

Lawsuits filed against Pfizer over Azithromycin risks allege that the manufacturer failed to adequately warn both the public and the medical community about the serious and even life-threatening possibility of developing SJS or TEN.

They further allege that Pfizer actively concealed their knowledge of the severity of Azithromycin side effects like SJS, and instead continued to market these drugs as safe and effective antibiotic choices.

These lawsuits claim that the plaintiffs would have been able to choose a safer alternative to Azithromycin had they been properly informed of the extreme risk of SJS associated with Azithromycin products.

If you or someone you love has experienced an antibiotic reaction such as Stevens Johnson Syndrome or Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis after using Azithromycin or a similar product, you may be able to file a lawsuit against Pfizer.