Jury Finds Johnson & Johnson Not Liable For Motrin Blindness
By: Gerri L. Elder
On July 17, a jury in Malibu, California found Johnson & Johnson not liable in a $1 billion personal injury lawsuit alleging that the drug Children's Motrin was defective. An 11-year-old child claimed in the lawsuit that the drug was responsible for her blindness, according to a Reuters news report.
Children's Motrin is a painkiller that is manufactured by Johnson & Johnson's McNeil consumer healthcare unit and sold over-the-counter at retail outlets.
After a trial that lasted for six weeks, the jury in the case voted 9-3 against holding Johnson & Johnson liable for the child's blindness. The jurors did side with the plaintiff on seven of eight other issues but decided that it had not been proven that Children's Motrin caused the injury that Sabrina Johnson suffered. Therefore Johnson was not awarded any damages that the Johnson family had sought in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed by the Johnson family in the Los Angeles Superior Court alleged that Johnson & Johnson failed to label the pain reliever with a specific warning that use of the drug could lead to Stevens - Johnson syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal allergic reaction involving a severe rash of the skin and mucous membranes. Stevens - Johnson syndrome and a related condition, toxic epidermal necrolysis, are very rare, with an incidence of about two to three cases per million people reported each year in Europe and the United States.
Lawyers for Johnson & Johnson argued that Stevens - Johnson syndrome could not be directly attributed to the use of Children's Motrin. The active ingredient in Motrin is Ibuprofen. It is also the active ingredient in Advil and many other over-the-counter pain relievers.
Johnson & Johnson also maintained that Children's Motrin is a safe product and information on the packing materials adequately warn consumers that a doctor should be consulted if there is any change in the medical condition of a young person after they are given Children's Motrin.
Sabrina Johnson's family had sought $14 million in actual damages, $103 million for the girl and her family's pain and suffering, and a punitive damages award against Johnson & Johnson in the amount of $950 million.
The child testified during the trial that the undersides of her eyelids feel like sandpaper and that she has spent months inside a large cardboard box during the daytime in order to avoid intense pain in her eyes.