Acne Medication Users v Hoffman-La Roche, Inc. (maker of Accutane)
Acne Drug's Psychiatric Side-Effects
Law Firms are investigating possible legal actions against Hoffman-La Roche, Inc., manufacturer of the prescription acne drug Accutane, to recover for psychological damage--sometimes leading to suicide--suffered by Accutane users. As of late 2000, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had received reports of 66 suicides and 1,373 other psychiatric adverse events in Accutane users. Accutane was approved in 1982 to treat only a very special type of acne--severe nodular acne that had not responded to other therapies. Critics estimate that most of the 500,000 people in the United States who try it each year have acne too mild for the drug.
The possible connection between Accutane and suicide became national news in October, 2000, after U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak from Michigan said that his 17-year-old son's suicide earlier that year might be linked to Accutane. Bart Stupak Jr., known as 'B.J.,' shot himself in the head with his father's gun in the early hours of May 14. Stupak, a football player who was popular in school, killed himself after a prom-night party.
Other Accutane victims have spoken out:
'Within days of taking Accutane, my mood began to change. Within weeks, I was crying,' testified Amanda Callais of Denham Springs, Louisiana, who at age 14 attempted suicide, two months after beginning Accutane therapy. Before taking Accutane, she was an outgoing, happy, straight-A student. According to her mother, within days after throwing out the pills, Amanda made 'a miraculous recovery.'
Stacy and Michael Baumann of Mundelein, Ill., whose son, Daniel, a high school sophomore, killed himself in December, 1999 while taking Accutane, have described how their dermatologist handed out outdated brochures and their pharmacist provided no counseling.
