No Dedicated Federal Funding Exists to Fight Deadly Drug Reaction: DRESS Syndrome

DRESS Syndrome Foundation marks National DRESS Syndrome Day on July 16 with "All Hands on DRESS" — a nationwide call to close a critical research gap.

RICHMOND, Va., July 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year, new medicines enter the market. Every year, people around the world develop DRESS, a potentially fatal drug reaction. Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms — known as DRESS Syndrome — is a severe, immune-mediated reaction to medicines commonly prescribed every day: antibiotics, anticonvulsants, gout therapies, and others. Studies estimate that 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 10,000 people who take certain medicines will develop DRESS, and an estimated 10% of them will not survive. Yet, no dedicated federal funding stream exists to study DRESS, prevent it, or improve treatment.

This year, the DRESS Syndrome Foundation is rallying patients, clinicians, and lawmakers around National DRESS Syndrome Day on July 16 — "All Hands on DRESS" — to help close this critical research gap.

"Despite being one of the most dangerous drug reactions in medicine, DRESS falls between traditional research silos. The researchers studying it are scattered across allergy and immunology, dermatology, infectious disease, and genomics — doing serious work without dedicated funding to sustain it. The expertise exists. The infrastructure to fund it does not," explains Tasha Tolliver, founder and executive director of the DRESS Syndrome Foundation. "People are needlessly dying or living with life-altering complications. A disease that belongs to every specialty needs a research home of its own — and a dedicated federal funding track would give it one."

DRESS does not announce itself quickly. Symptoms typically begin 2 to 8 weeks after starting the offending medication — with fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes — making the connection between drug and reaction easy to miss. By the time DRESS is recognized, patients may be facing liver failure, myocarditis, or other organ damage. Some go on to develop lifelong autoimmune disease. Others may have died before ever receiving a diagnosis.

The DRESS Syndrome Foundation asks everyone to raise their hands for "All Hands on DRESS" and help deepen awareness across patient and medical communities. The Foundation is also urging lawmakers to support a dedicated NIH and FDA funding track for severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) — a group of life-threatening drug reactions that include DRESS Syndrome and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome/Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (SJS/TEN).

Dr. Elizabeth Phillips, a clinician-researcher and global expert in severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) and director of the Center for Drug Safety and Immunology (CDSI) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, emphasizes the urgency of closing these gaps.

"The reality is — we still can't tell, at the bedside, which patient will recover from DRESS Syndrome in weeks, and which will face years of autoimmune sequelae. Perhaps most importantly, we cannot completely identify who is at risk for DRESS from a specific drug. As a result, prevention is imperfect. These research gaps and uncertainty are our unfinished work. Dedicated federal funding for deeper research would meaningfully change these outcomes."

The DRESS Syndrome Foundation invites the public to participate in National DRESS Syndrome Day. Whether you sign a petition, write to your members of Congress, or raise your hand for DRESS, every effort counts.

About the DRESS Syndrome Foundation
The DRESS Syndrome Foundation is a Virginia-based 501(c)(3) patient advocacy organization dedicated to DRESS Syndrome patients and their families worldwide. We work to deepen awareness of DRESS and severe drug reactions, while fostering medical understanding of this disease. We envision a world where severe drug reactions are identifiable, treatable, and preventable.

MEDIA CONTACT: Deanna Lorianni, Communications Director
804.307.6703
[email protected]
DRESSsyndromefoundation.org

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SOURCE DRESS Syndrome Foundation