Accutane Lawsuit and Side
Effect Information

Accutane - Drug Overview

Accutane is manufactured by Hoffman-LaRoche Pharmaceuticals, also referred to as The La Roche Group or just shortened to La Roche. The seventh largest drug company in the world, they list Accutane as one of their top selling drugs. It nets roughly $1.2 billion yearly. While it may be a top seller, Accutane is one of the top three drugs marketed carrying the most adverse side effects.

Accutane/Isotretenoin is a Vitamin A derivative/analog that reduces the skin's sebum (oily substance) production and is used for the treatment of severe acne. This drug has actually been around since 1982 and today over 5 million people are still prescribed it.

Right from the day it hit the market Accutane side effects began to come to light. No one did anything to warn people until recently. In fact it looks very much like La Roche knew about the deadly side effects but failed to adequately inform doctors, patients and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

What's worse is when the FDA ordered La Roche to add psychiatric disorder warnings - most notably suicidal tendencies - to Accutane labels, it turned around and advertised that their drug lessened feelings of depression by treating acne. The FDA wasn't impressed and issued a warning letter that such ads were "particularly troublesome," not to mention false and misleading.

Accutane Problems and History of Legal Action

Accutane side effects include birth defects, abortion, premature births, miscarriage, stomach disorders, suicide, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, pancreatitis, rectal bleeding and colon cancer. Accutane is also known to cause rapid heartbeat, stroke and blood clots. (No wonder thousands of people have chosen to file an Accutane lawsuit.)

If those Accutane side effects aren't scary enough, it's also been cited as being responsible for osteoporosis, muscle weakness, hepatitis, liver damage, bone fractures and temporary or permanent hearing loss. The two symptoms that have garnered the most media coverage however are depression and suicidal tendencies.

Concerned about the devastating side effects, the FDA demanded La Roche add warning labels to this drug, which it eventually did. Accutane is now only prescribed to patients registered under a program called iPledge. IPledge mandates patients, doctors and pharmacists to register with them in order to prescribe and distribute Accutane. You'd think with the side effects and numerous Accutane lawsuits they'd stop prescribing it.

Lawsuits of note against drug giant La Roche Pharmaceuticals have been and are for:

* Boniva/Ibandronate Sodium - lawsuit under Lanham Act for false and misleading advertising of this osteoporosis medicine and its purported efficacy
* Teva - patent infringement for Boniva
* IGEN - breach of licensing agreement in use of ORIGEN biological detection equipment
* Amgen - patent infringement for anemia medicine Mircera
* Vitamin Price Fixing - led worldwide conspiracy of manufacturers to rig prices in bulk vitamin market for most of the 1990s
* Cellcept - causes life threatening progressive nutritional leukoencephalopathy, a slow virus infection
* Amgen - patent infringement for Epogen for kidney failure patients and those on dialysis

Current Status of Accutane Lawsuits

This drug is still being prescribed to thousands of people who may not know about Accutane side effects, nor be aware that some side effects can persist even if the drug is discontinued. Even when stopped it can cause hair loss, decreased night vision and joint pains.

La Roche Pharmaceuticals continues to trial new drugs, scrap in public for patents, infringe on other drug companies patents and in general continue to promote this highly questionable drug. It certainly makes one wonder about profits being put before people.

If you have suffered Accutane side effects you are eligible to file an Accutane lawsuit. You may also file a wrongful death suit if someone in your family has died as the result of Accutane side effects.

Contact an experienced attorney to discuss your Accutane lawsuit. They will assess your case based on the length of time you took Accutane, what your dose was and what side effects harmed you.




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