New Hampshire Woman Blinded by Drug Wins $21M

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A federal jury in New Hampshire has awarded $21 million to a woman blinded and scarred by a prescription drug she took for shoulder pain.

Karen Bartlett, 51, of Plaistow suffered extreme burns to her skin, mucus membranes and eyes after taking the anti-inflammatory drug Sulindac.

After three days of deliberations, the jury found that Philadelphia-based Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. was liable for her injuries and should have known the drug was unreasonably dangerous to consumers.

Bartlett’s attorneys said it was the largest award in a New Hampshire product liability case. The largest previous award was $13 million in a 1993 case involving a construction site accident.

Pierre Chabot, one of Mutual Pharmaceutical’s attorneys, declined to comment on the verdict.

Bartlett said her goal in filing the lawsuit was to educate others about the dangers of prescription drugs.

“That was my biggest thing — getting the word out,” Bartlett said. “Before this happened to me, I never knew something like this could happen just from taking medication.”

Bartlett began taking Sulindac in January 2005 to treat shoulder pain. Two weeks later, she noticed red spots on her face and irritation around her eyes. She was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 2, 2005, complaining of feeling like there were “pebbles” under her eyelids and in her throat, and suffering from a worsening rash.

She was diagnosed as having Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN) – potentially fatal skin diseases that inflame the mucus membranes and eyes and are marked by a skin rash that burns off the outer layer of skin. She spent 112 days in five hospitals, including the Massachusetts General Hospital Burn Unit. The disease also seared her throat, stomach and lungs, causing permanent disabilities.

“It literally burned her alive,” Bartlett’s lawyer, Keith Jensen, told jurors during closing arguments. “It burned 65 percent of the skin off her body… It burned her inside and out. ”

Bartlett has undergone 12 eye operations and is legally blind. Her husband, Greg, would escort her to and from her seat beside her lawyers while the jury was out of the courtroom.

Bartlett sought $4.5 million for past and future medical bills and lost earning capacity. Jensen asked jurors to award her an additional $20 million to $30 million to compensate for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.

Clinoril is the brand name commonly associated with Sulindac.