Just Diagnosed with SJS? Here's what to do.

For a family member or individual just diagnosed with SJS, here’s what to do before calling: gather any notes, documents, or photos you have. Many families reach out before they even have a single document in order, and that’s okay, too.

Just bring what’s readily available: a prescription label, the name of the medication, or a hospital bill. Dunn Sheehan requests and subpoenas the records that matter. What you have starts the conversation. What you don’t have is our firm’s job to find.

If you’ve just been diagnosed with SJS, here’s what to do. Reach out whenever you’re ready. That includes while you’re at the hospital. Contacting us early makes strategic sense, not because the legal decision is urgent, but because the medical record is being created right now. A brief call establishes what to preserve and what your options look like once you’ve stabilized. There’s no obligation and no fee.

Start preserving:

• Prescription labels
• Pharmacy receipts
• Hospital admission records
• Discharge summaries
• Photographs of visible symptoms

Bring what you can and save what you have. Our team at Dunn Sheehan requests and obtains the rest, including records you may not know exist.

Not entirely. For anyone just diagnosed with SJS from a generic medication, here’s what to do: don’t assume a claim isn’t available.

Many states limit claims against generic manufacturers, but California’s innovator liability doctrine allows claims against the brand-name company that wrote the warning label, even if you took the generic version. We will evaluate this option in every qualifying case.

For families dealing with a fatal SJS diagnosis, here’s what to do: reach out to Dunn Sheehan. Our team can support you through this loss by holding the manufacturer responsible.

When SJS leads to a wrongful death, families may pursue a claim against the drug manufacturer responsible for the warning label failure. At Dunn Sheehan, we have represented families in exactly this situation and understand that accountability—not a settlement figure—is what most families are seeking. A single conversation establishes whether a claim exists.