14 DAY TRIAL // Back in 2003, the Reckis family decided to make use of Motrin in order to try to reduce their 7-year-old daughter's fever. Unfortunately, the girl reacted badly to this drug, meaning that she ended up losing roughly 90% of the skin on her body.
Furthermore, the drug caused her to go blind, suffer brain damage and lose as much as 20% of her lung capacity.
As was to be expected, the family eventually filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, the company responsible for manufacturing and marketing Motrin, and one of its subsidiaries, McNeil-PPC.
Now that all the legal commotion has come to an end, the Reckis family is to be awarded $63 million (€46.8 million) as compensation.
Apparently, Johnson & Johnson must now pay said sum of money to this family on account of their failing to inform their customers about the fact that Motrin can sometimes cause such severe side effects.
Specialists explain that the medical condition Samantha Reckis developed as a result of her taking Motrin is known as epidermal necrolysis.
Because of the severity of this disease, which attacked her throat, her eyes, her intestinal tract, her esophagus and her respiratory and reproductive systems, the doctors were left with no choice except force her into a coma.
This extreme measure was meant to help protect the girl against any unnecessary suffering.
Interestingly enough, the girl, now age 16, had taken this drug several times before her developing this life-threatening reaction to it.
However, in these past occasions, she did not experience any unpleasant side effects, The Inquisitr reports.
The same source informs us that said $63 million are to be broken down as follows: Samantha Reckis was offered $50 million (€37.1 million), while her parents received $6.5 million (€4.8 million) each.
Once this jury ruling is reviewed by a trial judge, and once interest is also taken into consideration, said sum of money could ultimately hit $109 million (€80.9 million).
“The Reckis family has suffered a tragedy, and we sympathize deeply with them. A number of medicines, including ibuprofen, have been associated with allergic reactions and as noted on the label, consumers should stop using medications and immediately contact a healthcare professional if they have an allergic reaction,” reads a statement issued by the company with respect to the outcome of this lawsuit.