MEDIC ALERT

Girl burned from inside out by rare drug reaction

In an extremely rare, often fatal and little-known severe toxic reaction to a medical drug, Samantha Grasham's body caught fire - from the inside out - blistering most of the attractive 18-year-old's skin, as well as her mouth, throat, esophagus and airway, perhaps leaving her scarred for life. She spent nearly three weeks in the Burn Unit at St. Mary's Hospital, as doctors there worked to save her life and her skin.
As happens in most of these strange cases of what is known as Stevens-Johnson syndrome, there was no warning that Grasham would react so severely to a medication.
many common drugs - including prescription painkillers and antibiotics - even over-the-counter pain and fever medicines for children - are linked to this "fire in the flesh." In its severe form, when the skin is literally burned off the body and even internal organs are damaged, about half die.
Although the syndrome is rare - occurring at the rate of about 1 to 7 cases per million people per year - some say it is starting to increase significantly as more antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs hit the market.
Drugs that can trigger Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) receive little warning publicity.