"Lost 87% of Her Skin and Went Blind"...What Happened After Taking "This Drug" [Health Talk]

[The Financial News] A woman in her 30s who took an anticonvulsant experienced a rare, severe drug side effect that caused her to lose most of the skin on her body and go permanently blind. She was later diagnosed with Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS) after taking the medication.
According to foreign media including The Sun in the United Kingdom, Emily McAllister, who lives in Chicago in the United States, was prescribed the anticonvulsant Lamotrigine in September 2022. About two weeks after starting the drug, she was diagnosed with Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS) and treated in an intensive care unit.

On day 16 of taking the medication, Emily first noticed dry, bloodshot eyes and swelling in her face. The next day, she developed disorientation and decreased consciousness, and a rash that began on her face spread rapidly across her entire body. After being taken to the hospital, she was diagnosed with SJS and immediately placed under intensive treatment.
As the skin tissue on her face became necrotic and began to slough off, her risk of infection soared. Doctors focused on preserving as much healthy skin as possible, but Emily ultimately lost about 87% of her total skin surface. Her vision also deteriorated, and since 2022 she has undergone six eye surgeries in an attempt to restore it. In addition, she has had to endure multiple complex procedures, including stem cell transplantation, salivary gland transplantation, and three uterine surgeries.
Emily is now reportedly legally blind in both eyes. She has completely lost vision in her left eye, and in her right eye she can only maintain limited sight by wearing special contact lenses. She had no prior history of eye disease or visual problems.
“Stopping the medication does not reverse the damage caused by SJS,” she said. “This condition leaves lifelong effects.” She added, “I am now disabled, and every aspect of my daily life is completely different from before.” She also stressed, “There needs to be greater public awareness that even medications prescribed by doctors can, in rare cases, cause life-threatening side effects.”

SJS is known to occur not because of dosage errors or mistakes in taking the drug, but due to an unpredictable immune hypersensitivity reaction.
The condition is a rare, severe immune reaction triggered by medications. Instead of attacking invading bacteria, the immune system mistakenly attacks the patient’s own skin and mucous membranes. It typically develops one to three weeks after starting a specific drug, and because it progresses rapidly, early recognition is critical.
Early symptoms resemble a common cold, with fever, body aches, sore throat, and fatigue. These are followed by red eyes with pain, swelling of the lips and face, and red or purplish rashes. The rash spreads quickly, forms blisters, and the skin peels off like a burn. Patients often describe the pain as “a burning sensation from the inside out.”
Beyond the skin, the disease can affect mucous membranes in the mouth, esophagus, intestines, and genitals, as well as the eyes. As a result, patients may experience difficulty swallowing and painful urination. When the eyes are involved, corneal damage and vision loss can occur, and in severe cases it can lead to blindness. Even after the skin heals, many patients are left with permanent visual impairment or scarring.

Medications are the primary cause. Anticonvulsants such as Lamotrigine, sulfonamide antibiotics, some painkillers such as Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), and Penicillin-class antibiotics are considered major triggers. It is an unpredictable immune hypersensitivity reaction that occurs only in certain individuals. Stopping the offending drug can prevent further damage, but harm that has already occurred is often difficult to reverse.
SJS is also consistently reported in South Korea as a severe acute skin disorder caused by adverse drug reactions. Although its incidence is low, the medical community classifies it as one of the most dangerous types of drug-induced reactions. It is rare—typically affecting fewer than five people per one million population—but the mortality rate from SJS alone reaches 5–10%.
Domestic research estimates that about 234 patients a year in Korea experience severe drug-induced skin reactions, including SJS and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Among them, an average of about 57 patients die each year. The number of patients is small, but the severity and fatality rate are high. If a person develops high fever, eye pain, mouth ulcers, and an unexplained rash all at once after taking medication, they should seek medical attention immediately.


hsg@fnnews.com Han Seung-gon Reporter