{"id":377152,"date":"2026-04-13T09:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T09:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377152\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T09:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T09:57:09","slug":"womans-face-burnt-off-after-reaction-to-depression-drug-lamotrigine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377152\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman’s face ‘burnt off’ after reaction to depression drug lamotrigine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The woman spent 66 days in the hospital with time in intensive careNeil Shaw<\/a> Assistant Editor (Money and Lifestyle)<\/p>\n

07:23, 13 Apr 2026Updated 08:00, 13 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The reaction started with red blisters across her face<\/p>\n

This article contains images some may find disturbing.<\/p>\n

A woman\u2019s face started to burn off and blister severely after her depression medication triggered a reaction. The 42-year-old was rushed into hospital with red and blistered skin to her face, head, neck and torso.<\/p>\n

Doctors found that the patient had been prescribed the drug lamotrigine to help manage her depression, which they believe had triggered toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). TEN is a rare, life-threatening skin disorder, characterised by widespread blistering, necrosis, and detachment of the skin.<\/p>\n

While uncommon, doctors noted reactions to lamotrigine had been reported before. The patient\u2019s symptoms had begun three weeks before, gradually worsening until she was taken into the ICU for urgent treatment, with her face most severely affected.<\/p>\n

\"Day<\/p>\n

Day 66, when she was released from hospital<\/p>\n

Upon her admission, she was started on a course of several antibiotics, as well as an antibacterial biomaterial being used for tissue regeneration on her facial wounds. Four days in, she showed signs of healing, and the treatment continued with evaluations every other day.<\/p>\n

She remained in hospital for 66 days, with doctors monitoring her progress as her skin slowly healed. Pictures showing the progress of her condition throughout her time in hospital, as well as during a follow-up appointment six months after she was discharged show the incredible recovery she was able to make, with her skin visibly less scarred.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The woman four days after having bandages removed<\/p>\n

Doctors described the affected areas as having undergone \u201cexcellent\u201d restoration at the follow-up appointment. The woman was treated at Hospital Benefic\u00eancia Portuguesa de S\u00e3o Paulo in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil.<\/p>\n

Lamotrigine is widely presecribed in the UK for depression, bi-polar disorder and epilepsy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The woman spent 66 days in the hospital with time in intensive careNeil Shaw Assistant Editor (Money and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[134,3274,524,554,111,139,69,829],"class_list":{"0":"post-377152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-hospitals","10":"tag-medication","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-prescriptions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}