A 26-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit claiming that an error in medication dosage caused her skin to melt off. The woman went to her doctor three years ago, asking for something for depression. The physician gave her a prescription for lamotrigine, and she took it to her local pharmacy. Her claim is that the dosage of the medication was wrong, and neither the doctor nor pharmacist caught it. While this incident did not occur in Ohio, a medical mistake such as this one is possible in any jurisdiction.
The woman explains that everything seemed okay for the first two weeks after she began to take the medication. Suddenly, she felt severe pain, as if she was on fire. Her skin began to melt from the inside out, starting with her sweat glands. The diagnosis was Steven Johnson Syndrome, a skin condition that is caused by a bad reaction to a medication or an incorrect dosage.
She now doesn’t even recognize herself in photographs and says that she gets strange looks wherever she goes. The woman shares that her whole life changed in 2014 when the doctor prescribed the medication to her. Her skin is permanently scarred, her eyesight is fading, and she will never again have fingernails. She calls the incident a fluke due to someone’s mistake.
When someone makes a medical mistake like the one that this woman apparently endured, the results can be devastating. Anyone in Ohio who has suffered because of a doctor error or other type of medical malpractice has the right to seek compensation for their emotional trauma, time lost at work, medical bills and other monetary damages caused by the error. A knowledgeable personal injury attorney can guide the client throughout every step of the case.
Source: USA Today, “Medication error: Woman’s skin ‘melts off’“, Andy Pierrotti and Julie Wolfe, May 11, 2017