Mother Burned While Jailed for Child Support in U.S. in Critical Condition

Woman in Critical Condition, Burned from Inside Out After Jail Ignored Serious Medical Condition - a Result of Medication Given which Caused Severe Reaction. June 11, 2010. INDIANAPOLIS, News6. A woman who was jailed in Tippecanoe County is now in an Indianapolis hospital fighting for her life after a severe allergic reaction to drugs she was given there.
Lekeia Charity Brown, 24, remains in critical condition at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
In an interview from her hospital bed, Brown told 6News' Tanya Spencer that she had a fever of 104 degrees and could barely breathe when she arrived at the emergency room.
Brown said that no one at the jail even took her temperature, despite her repeated calls for help.
"It was so bad already that I was burning from the inside out," she said. "I'm in excruciating pain."
Brown was lodged in the Tippecanoe County Jail on May 19 because she owed $2,000 in child support reimbursement. She said the jail's medical staff changed her anti-seizure medication and that she began having serious side effects and reported them to the nurse every day.
"He kept saying every single day, 'So, what are your side effects again? OK, well I put in something for the doctor, and they'll get it taken care of,'" Brown said. "Nothing still was ever taken care of."
Brown said that by the third week, her condition worsened to the point that she had to call for help in the middle of the night.
"I couldn't breathe. I was having trouble breathing," she said. "They gave me a slip and said to fill it out and they'd let the nurse know about it in the morning."
Brown said that the next morning, her eyes and mouth were swollen shut and that she was covered in blisters and gasping for air.
Brown was then rushed to a Lafayette hospital, which then transferred her to Methodist.
Doctors said Brown is suffering from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. The SJS Foundation website said patients literally burn from the inside out. It can be caused by a number of factors, including a reaction to medication or other infections.
Despite being in tremendous pain, Brown said that what hurts most is not seeing her children.
"I don't want them to see me like this," she said. "I don't want them to have to wake up and not have a mommy because of some faulty mistake that didn't nobody look into."
The Tippecanoe County sheriff said he cannot comment specifically about the case but said there will be an internal investigation to make sure policies and procedures were followed.
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