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4310 Gaston Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75246
Telephone 214-821-8840
Fax 214-821-3834
www.barberlawoffice.com
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
FEBRUARY 4, 2005
WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT FILED
AGAINST
MAKERS OF OTC
CHILDREN’S
ADVIL
NEW JERSEY -- The parents of a three-year-old
girl filed suit against the makers of over the counter
Children’s Advil (ibuprofen), claiming their daughter
suffered severe side effects and died after taking
Children’s Advil. The suit was filed January 21, 2005, in
the Superior Court of Monmouth County, New Jersey.
In their lawsuit, Darlene and Andrew Kiss
accuse Wyeth of wrongful death, negligence, defective
design, breach of express warranty, breach of implied
warranty, and failure to warn consumers and doctors of the
potential health risks of taking over the counter Children’s
Advil, specifically the risk of developing two
life-threatening and fatal cutaneous disorders --
Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal
Necrolysis (TEN) -- which are typically caused by an adverse
reaction to a drug or virus.
Three-year-old Heather was given Children’s
Advil on or about March 1, 2003, after developing a fever.
Heather had no known drug allergies. A week later her fever
reoccurred and she developed itchy eyelids and received an
additional dose of Children’s Advil. Heather then developed
a rash on her face and was seen by her pediatrician on March
10.
On March 11, Heather was hospitalized in the
pediatric intensive care unit of Monmouth Medical Center
(MMC) in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Doctors later the same
day concluded Heather had contracted SJS, according to the
lawsuit. The following day, Heather was transferred from MMC
to the burn unit at St. Barnabas Medical Center, where she
was treated for severe burns over seventy-percent of her
body due to toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). The suit
alleges that Children’s Advil caused Heather Kiss to develop
SJS, resulting in serious and permanently disabling injuries
and death on March 17, 2003.
The complaint also alleges the Wyeth
companies knew of a connection between the medication and
the disorders from their own clinical tests dating back to
the late 1980s, but failed to warn physicians and consumers
about the increased risks of SJS and TEN. Additionally,
Wyeth had cases of SJS that occurred in the study that
supported the approval of the OTC Children’s Advil, but
failed to disclose this to physicians or consumers.
“Heather’s suffering from SJS was horrific
and unimaginable. Andrew and Darlene want to prevent this
tragedy from happening to any more children. They believe
the drug should be removed from store shelves or, at a
minimum, that Children’s Advil should include a warning
about the risk of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome or toxic
epidermal necrolysis,” the Kiss family’s attorney, Ron
Eddins of Waters & Kraus, said.
“Scientific literature has established that
SJS and TEN are drug reactions that can be prevented if the
offending medication like Children’s Advil is stopped before
a person develops blisters or sloughing of the skin and
proper medical care is instituted,” James Barber of the Law
Offices of James Barber, the other main attorney
representing the Kiss family said. “In fact, one study
showed that the mortality can be reduced by 30% each day if
the drug is discontinued early.”
“Our lawsuit contends that this product is
unreasonably dangerous as marketed, and is intended to force
this drug maker to put a warning on the box and bottle of
Children’s Advil warning about this life-threatening and
potentially fatal drug reaction, specifically to include a
warning to consumers that if they develop a rash, mucosal
lesions or other recognizable symptoms to stop the drug
immediately,” Barber said. “This company provides some
warnings in Europe, but not in the United States. American
children deserve no less protection for the OTC product that
is allegedly supposed to relieve fever and pain, but instead
can kill them without warning.”
The Waters and Kraus law firm has extensive
experience in toxic tort and pharmaceutical law with offices
located in Dallas, Texas; Long Beach, California; and
Columbia, Maryland. The Law Offices of James C. Barber
also have extensive experience in litigating cases against
drug manufacturers with a unique specialty in representing
victims with Stevens - Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal
necrolysis. The James C. Barber law firm is located in
Dallas, Texas.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of decedent
Heather Kiss of Aberdeen, New Jersey, seeks unspecified
compensatory and punitive damages against New Brunswick, New
Jersey-based health care giant Wyeth, Inc. d/b/a Wyeth f/k/a
American Home Products Corporation; Wyeth Consumer
Healthcare, an unincorporated division of Wyeth, f/k/s
Whitehall-Robins Healthcare; and Whitehall Laboratories,
Inc. (“Wyeth”).
The lawsuit was
filed on behalf of the Kiss family by Ron C. Eddins of the
Dallas based law firm Waters & Kraus and James C. Barber,
Law Offices of James C. Barber, also of Dallas, Texas.
Fred Gerson of the law firm D’Allessandro, Jacovino &
Gerson located in Florham Park, New Jersey will be assisting
the Waters & Kraus and James C. Barber law firms.
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