.

Family Awarded $63M

Family Awarded $63M in Motrin Lawsuit, Health care company Johnson & Johnson has been told to pay a teenager and her parents $63 million after she suffered a life-threatening drug reaction and lost most of her skin when she took a children's pain reliever nearly a decade ago.

Johnson & Johnson and its McNeil-PPC Inc. subsidiary should pay Samantha Reckis and her parents a total of $109 million, including interest, a Plymouth Superior Court jury decided on Wednesday.

Samantha was 7 when she was given Motrin brand ibuprofen, family attorney Brad Henry said. She suffered a rare side effect known as toxic epidermal necrolysis and lost 90 percent of her skin and was blinded, he said.

She suffered brain damage that "thankfully" involved only short-term memory loss, he said, and surgeons had to drill through her skull to relieve some pressure.

The disease also seared Samantha's respiratory system, and she now has just 20 percent lung capacity, Henry said.

The family filed the lawsuit in January 2007, claiming that Samantha was blinded by Motrin and alleging that Johnson & Johnson failed to warn consumers that the drug could cause life-threatening reactions. The five-week trial ended on Wednesday when the jury awarded $50 million in compensatory damages to Samantha and $6.5 million to each of her parents.
 
Read More:Today’s Top Post
.

Popular Posts