Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

The serious adverse reaction to medication known as Stevens Johnson Syndrome, or SJS, is rare in the U.S. and most countries, occurring in about one person per million each year. However, doctors at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, have seen as many as 40 to 50 cases of SJS in only a year. “Sometimes we see two or three in a single week,” says Ghung Wen-Hung, a researcher at Chang Gung, who was quoted in the Taipei Times.

Researchers like Wen-Hung are asking why.

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Natural health products may be all the rage in alternative medicine, however many herbal remedies are linked to serious adverse reactions and potential health risks, according to the January 2009 edition of Health Canada’s Canadian Adverse Reaction Newsletter.

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A stimulant-type drug recently was added to the list of medications that may cause Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), a rare but life-threatening condition affecting the skin and mucus membranes, causing the skin to blister and peel away in sheets. MedPage Today reported that drug maker Cephalon has agreed to update the drug’s label to warn of the potential risk of SJS and other serious rashes and hypersensitivity reactions.

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Gary Beatham had been blamed for her death. He couldn’t understand why.

Beatham’s girlfriend of two years, Louise Armstrong, came down with flu-like symptoms in late December. The morning of New Year’s Eve, Beatham woke in their Penrith, Australia, home to find his partner gravely ill with blisters covering her body. He called the ambulance, but it was too late. Armstrong had died.

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Last week, after weeks of alarming medical symptoms, Backstreet Boys band member Brian Littrell finally has a diagnosis for his ailing 6-year-old son Baylee – Kawasaki Disease, according to the singer’s Web page. Kawasaki Disease, or KD, is a serious illness that involves the skin, mouth and lymph nodes. If symptoms are recognized early, a full recovery can be expected. If left untreated, it can cause serious heart complications.

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It was bad enough that Jean McCrawley’s infant daughter Julie was diagnosed with epilepsy, but two weeks after she was prescribed phenobarbatol to treat her seizures, she woke up with a swollen eyes and a high fever. Jean took her daughter to the doctor who discovered blisters forming on the little girl’s shoulders and mouth. He diagnosed her with chicken pox.

But the blisters got worse. They spread down her throat and little Julie was unable to drink her bottle because of the pain. Jean rushed her daughter to the hospital, where doctors continued to administered the phenobarbatol for her seizures. But Julie’s health continued to decline. Four days later the little girl’s lungs collapsed and her skin began coming off in sheets. That’s when a nurse realized what was going on. “This is Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS),” she said. Jean was relieved to have a diagnosis, but the doctor said, “This is extremely serious. She could die.”

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