Wrongful Death News

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Makers Of Children's Advil On Behalf Of Heather Kiss

The parents of a three-year-old girl have filed suit against the makers of over the counter Children's Advil (ibuprofen), claiming their daughter suffered severe side effects and died after taking Children's Advil. The suit was filed Jan. 21, 2005, in the Superior Court of Monmouth County, N.J.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of decedent Heather Kiss of Aberdeen, N.J., seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against New Brunswick, N.J.-based health care giant Wyeth, Inc. d/b/a Wyeth f/k/a American Home Products Corporation; Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, an unincorporated division of Wyeth, f/k/s Whitehall-Robins Healthcare; and Whitehall Laboratories, Inc. ("Wyeth").

In their lawsuit, Darlene and Andrew Kiss accuse Wyeth of wrongful death, negligence, defective design, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, and failure to warn consumers and doctors of the potential health risks of taking over the counter Children's Advil, specifically the risk of developing two life-threatening and fatal cutaneous disorders -- Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) -- which are typically caused by an adverse reaction to a drug or virus.

Three-year-old Heather was given Children's Advil on or about March 1, 2003, after developing a fever. Heather had no known drug allergies. A week later her fever reoccurred and she developed itchy eyelids and received an additional dose of Children's Advil. Heather then developed a rash on her face and was seen by her pediatrician on March 10.

On March 11, Heather was hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit of Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) in Monmouth County, N.J. Doctors later the same day concluded Heather had contracted SJS, according to the lawsuit. The following day, Heather was transferred from MMC to the burn unit at St. Barnabas Medical Center, where she was treated for severe burns over seventy-percent of her body due to toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). The suit alleges that Children's Advil caused Heather Kiss to develop SJS, resulting in serious and permanently disabling injuries and death on March 17, 2003.

The complaint also alleges the Wyeth companies knew of a connection between the medication and the disorders from their own clinical tests dating back to the late 1980s, but failed to warn physicians and consumers about the increased risks of SJS and TEN. Additionally, Wyeth had cases of SJS that occurred in the study that supported the approval of the OTC Children's Advil, but failed to disclose this to physicians or consumers.

If you have suffered financial or emotional distress due to the negligence of others in Missouri, contact our wrongful death lawyer now and obtain a free case evaluation.

	Did You Know?
	Family members can file a wrongful death suit. This depends on individual state law, but in general the immediate family members (spouses, children and parents) can file a wrongful death claim. Some states allow grandparents, legal dependants and extended family members to file.