Fatal dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome with hypothyroidism and steroid-induced diabetes mellitus

Dapsone has been part of the World Health Organization multidrug therapy for the treatment of leprosy. While it has been efficacious in the management of leprosy, there are many patients who develop adverse drug reactions to the drug including life-threatening reactions such as dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome (DHS). We report a case of a patient who was prescribed dapsone as part of multidrug therapy for leprosy following which she developed DHS. Her condition worsened after tapering the oral steroids given to manage the DHS, and she was detected to have hypothyroidism. She developed diabetes mellitus and succumbed to septic shock.