The Serious Dangers of Taking Accutane


Serious birth defects and suicides have been reported from taking Accutane®.Acne and pimples are some of the common ailments that affect the skin and millions of Americans are constantly on the lookout for remedies.People suffering from severe acne are sometimes prescribed Accutane®, an oral drug approved by the FDA way back in 1982. Since then it has been used in the treatment of the most severe forms of acne, such as nodule acne. This drug was first developed by Hoffman LaRoche Company™ as a chemotherapy drug for certain types of cancer. The manufacturer realized that this drug was also very effective in treating severe cases of acne and it soon became one of the leading forms of treatment for common acne.

Accutane Side Effects

In 1983 Accutane® started to get linked to life threatening side effects. As more and more incidences of the side effects were discovered, LaRoche™ withdrew the drug from the market in the year 2009, but not before the company made as much as almost $1.2 billion from this drug annually.

Today it is still available in its generic versions like Claravis™, Sotret™ and Amnesteem™ all containing the ingredient Isotretinoin. While this drug may be effective against certain types of acne, its possible severe side effects need to be considered — some physiological and others psychological in nature. Some of these side effects may be delayed over the years.

Some of the most commonly recorded side effects of Accutane®:

  • Bowel Related disorders — in the form of Ulcerative Colitis — a disease which causes inflammation as well as sores in the lining with the rectum and also colon or Crohn’s disease — which affects the stomach, small intestines, the mouth as well as the esophagus.
  • Birth defects — The drug when taken just before or during pregnancy causes severe birth defects in the baby in the form of brain and heart related defects.
  • Depressive disorders — Depression and suicidal tendencies.
  • Rosacea — A condition of severe redness and irritation of facial skin

Some of the following side effects have been reported to continue long after the discontinuation of the therapy: bone disease, hair loss, dryness of eyes, decreased vision at night, back aches and joint pains, skin related lesions and irritation.

Most significant, in pregnant users, there has been an extremely high rate of birth defects. Also present are reports of hundreds of suicides from the depression it can cause.

Accutane Side Effects Lawsuits

Awareness of the potential harmful side effects of Accutane® increased when the son of a congressman committed suicide. Republican Bart Stupak had linked his 17-year-old son’s suicide in May of 2000 to the use of Accutane®.

It has been estimated that close to 5,000 personal injury law suits have been filed against various pharmaceutical companies making and marketing this drug alleging that the medication caused serious side effects.

Legal help for Accutane side effects is available and if you or a loved one has been harmed due to the drug you could reach out to a qualified drug side effects attorney who would be able to help you by filing an Accutane side effects lawsuit.
Accutane IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) Lawyers continue to take up fresh cases on behalf of individuals who have taken the medicine and have been diagnosed with Accutane IBD (Inflammatory bowel disease), Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn’s Disease. Our San Antonio Accutane lawyers help innocent citizens fight out cases against pharmaceutical companies who continue to market this drug for Acne treatment despite its well known and documented side effects.

If you or a loved one has been harmed from taking Accutane® or other dangerous prescription drugscontact us today!

It has been reported that Roche™ has lost six of its initial court cases involving patients taking Accutane® and has paid out over $56 million to patients who were harmed by unwanted side effects caused by the acne medication. There are also reports of other generic manufacturers who have lost verdicts or reached out of court settlements of undisclosed amounts.

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