Utah student acne medication ate him from the inside out

August 20, 7:16 AMSalt Lake City Headlines ExaminerMarci Stone

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Andy Hill, 18 almost died from a commonly prescribed acne medication, Bactrim.  Hill was admitted to University Hospital's burn center after the medicine literally burned him from the inside out.  Andy had been taking the pill for three-weeks before he knew something was wrong.  "My body actually started turning red.  I didn't think much of it, I thought it was just a bad sunburn," according to ABC 4.

Andy's nurse says his recovery is miraculous.  The healing process required the removal of 90% of his skin and letting it re-grow.  "You're pretty much opening all access to your nerves for the majority of your whole body, so movement, wind, scented soaps can be very irritating to your skin," says Shawn Theobald, ABC 4 reported.

Hill has been making an amazing recovery and was back on the ice on Wednesday night, dropping the puck at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex.  That's where Juan Diego High School hockey friends went head-to-head to raise money for Andy.  The long-time hockey player's family was left with medical bills following his hospitalization in July. "Finally, it just overtook my immune system basically and my body started fighting itself almost."

"It wasn't the medicine exactly, it was one of the ingredients in the medicine, sulfa," says Andy.  "They say it's gone from a lot of people being allergic to penicillin to being allergic to sulfa."  His doctor said sulfa allergies are common, but his severe reaction is not.

ABC 4 reported, friends and former teammates from his high school say the hockey game was about raising money to help with medical bills.  Andy says he's thankful and ready to start school and play hockey at the University of Utah.  "Next Monday, I have practice.  Hopefully, I'll be able to attend it."

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