WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGES: Of the nine people taken to hospital with blisters between February 2024 and 2025, three developed life-threatening “toxic epidermal necrolysis,” authorities said.
A new type of 'energy' pill has left nine people hospitalised after horrific blisters and ulcers appeared on their bodies.
Hospitals reported that nine people — seven men and two women — required emergency treatment in the past year after taking the drugs modafinil and armodafinil in Singapore. The prescription-only drugs, which are used to treat narcolepsy, have recently gained popularity among the general public.
Students using the drugs to avoid sleep and study for exams are among nine users – aged 18 to 57 – who were rushed to hospital after taking a dose. They bought the pills from street dealers or friends, unaware of the many serious side effects that could occur.
Singapore authorities said they had learned of hospitalisations involving modafinil or armodafinil between February 2024 and 2025, with the local Healthcare Authority (HSA) saying one of the patients had taken the drug as a “supplement” in hopes of “improving their energy and health” before being rushed for treatment.
Of the nine patients hospitalized over 12 months, six developed Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), a potentially life-threatening reaction in which the skin blistered and peeled. The rash typically began on the upper body and then spread to the face, arms, legs, genitals and beyond.
In a statement, the HSA said one “male consumer” in his 40s who developed the condition also developed “severe mouth ulcers” that left him “unable to eat or speak”. A spokesman said: “The 40-year-old man developed painful blisters and peeling skin, as well as severe mouth ulcers that left him unable to eat or speak for several days.”
The other three patients developed toxic epidermal necrolysis, a more severe form of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which left one 20-year-old man life-threatening and hospitalised. The HSA said: “They experienced severe skin reactions, painful blisters and peeling skin that spread over the entire body.”
“One of them, a 20-year-old male user, developed life-threatening blisters on skin covering 60 percent of his body, including his face, chest, arms, genitals, legs and soles of his feet.” Despite the dangerous condition, the HSA said the patients were now recovering, adding: “There have been no deaths.”
Sourse: www.mirror.co.uk
