Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a serious, sometimes even life-threatening, health concern that can cause damage to the eyes and result in permanent blindness. If you or a loved one is a victim, then you might be considering your options for a SJS blindness lawsuit. With the right legal support, it’s possible to recover damages for medical costs, lost income, and the care that you’ll need for the rest of your life.
In this guide, we are taking a look at the parties that might be held liable for your injuries and how compensation for vision loss from SJS is calculated. Our legal team is always here to answer your questions, offering the advocacy and justice that you deserve.
What Happens When SJS Causes Blindness
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, around 50% of SJS patients have complications that affect their eyes, causing acute symptoms. After this acute phase ends, around 30 to 50% of these patients continue living with chronic eye complications.
Stevens-Johnson syndrome causes the mucous membranes in the eyes to become inflamed. Then, permanent scarring occurs, which changes the surface of the eye (resulting in vision changes).
The eye damage can be severe enough to meet the federal definition of blindness, which is a threshold of 20/200.
Eye Complications That Support a Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Eye Damage Claim
If you are going to pursue an SJS blindness lawsuit, you’ll need to have documented medical records that tie Stevens-Johnson syndrome to the eye damage that occurred. Some of the most common conditions that eye doctors find relating to SJS injuries include:
- Corneal Opacification: The scarring on the eye causes the vision to become blocked or distorted.
- Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency: SJS can destroy the stem cells that regenerate the cornea, which results in progressive vision loss. This loss of vision is irreversible and eventually results in blindness.
- Severe Dry Eye: Some patients have a dysfunction of the meibomian gland, which causes chronic dry eyes. This is more than an inconvenience because the symptoms can cause chronic pain since tear production is drastically reduced.
- Partial or Complete Blindness: The most severe eye complication from Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a loss of vision, either partially or fully. These SJS cases result in the highest compensation.
Eye Treatments That Establish Claim Value
An SJS vision loss lawyer can help you gather the right evidence to build your claim and help you determine whether your case is worth pursuing. Your Stevens-Johnson syndrome eye damage compensation will be determined based on the severity of your symptoms and how much your life has been impacted by the injuries.
We’ll use medical documentation to prove your injuries, and these are some of the most common eye treatments that help to establish the value of your claim:
- PROSE Scleral Lenses: While these lenses can help to improve your functional vision, each cycle is expensive. When a replacement lens is necessary, it can run between $5,000 and $10,000 or more per cycle.
- Surgical Interventions: Some patients have a corneal transplant and/or limbal stem cell transplantation. Not only is the cost of the surgery high, but there are also post-operative care costs that need to be factored into your claim.
- Boston Keratoprosthesis: If your transplant options failed, then another surgical intervention might involve the placement of an artificial cornea.
- Lifetime Costs: When total blindness occurs, the lifetime impact can reach into the millions. We often recommend hiring a certified life-care planner to document the full damages from these injuries.
Who Is Legally Responsible for SJS Blindness
In order for you to successfully receive a settlement, we need to prove liability so that the responsible party can pay for your damages. Each case is unique, which is why it’s best to work with an SJS vision loss lawyer.
Depending on your situation, we might pursue the drug manufacturer if they failed to warn of known SJS risk (this is the most common liability to pursue with these types of cases). Other potential parties that might be held liable include the prescribing physician for ignoring risk factors or early warning signs, as well as the pharmacist if a drug interaction occurred and it was missed during the dispensing review.
The hospital or ER might also be named a liable party, especially if the SJS diagnosis was delayed. When the diagnosis is missed and the symptoms continue progressing without proper treatment, then the health complications are worsened.
How Compensation for Vision Loss from SJS Is Calculated
There are several things that we factor into the calculations when determining fair compensation for vision loss from SJS. The economic damages can be relatively straightforward because they include anything that you have a receipt for, including past and future medical expenses, surgeries, prosthetic lenses, and medications that you will need to take for the rest of your life.
We also look at your lost earning capacity, based on how your salary and income will be affected for the remainder of your working life.
Additionally, non-economic damages can be calculated into your SJS blindless lawsuit. Compensation can be awarded for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, and disfigurement.
Punitive damages might also be added in, especially when the drug manufacturer knew about the risk of SJS and failed to share the proper warnings.
Medications That Most Commonly Cause SJS Blindness
Some of the most common causes of SJS Blindness include:
- Anticonvulsants: Lamotrigine (Lamictal), carbamazepine (Tegretol), phenytoin (Dilantin)
- Sulfa Antibiotics: Bactrim and Septra
- NSAIDs: Ibuprofen, naproxen, meloxicam, and diclofenac
- Amoxicillin and Augmentin: The most common drugs in pediatric SJS cases
FAQ
How much is a Stevens-Johnson syndrome blindness case worth?
The worth of your SJS blindness lawsuit depends on a lot of factors, including the severity of the injuries, how permanent the injuries are, age and occupation, as well as the strength of the evidence that we collect about the causation of the symptoms.
Can I sue if SJS only affected one eye?
Yes, it’s possible to receive compensation for single-eye vision loss, especially since any level of vision loss can have a significant impact on work and daily life.
Talk to a Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Blindness Attorney Today
If you or a loved one has been injured by Stevens-Johnson syndrome, then it’s time to talk to an experienced lawyer right away. Our team at Wormington and Bollinger has a history of success in winning SJS blindness cases, and we are here to advocate on your behalf. Contact us at Wormington and Bollinger for a free consultation. Call 1-888-967-6529.