Accutane’s Ban in US

Accutane is a notorious drug that is sold with close supervision from FDA. Accutane contains isotretnoin, a retinoid used to treat skin diseases, particularly acne vulgaris. Accutane is one of the controversial drugs in US that are blamed to be causing much damage with their side effects. The drug, manufactured by Roche in US, was pulled from the markets following the lawsuit compensations that Roche had to provide to the victims.

Accutane was available in the markets as early as 1982. It was approved by FDA back then. In the initial years, the drug was a great success as sales were very high. Those were the days when dermatologists prescribed Accutane without any second thoughts.

Accutane, since it is a kind of a retinoid (related to Vitamin A), was known to be carrying teratogenic risks from the beginning. The drug was generally not prescribed to females during their pregnancy. The popularity of Accutane started dipping from the year 1999. As more and more studies were conducted, some permanent and severe side effects of Accutane came to be known. One of the most common side effects was the inflammatory bowel disease, for which hundreds of lawsuits were filed.

La Roche was happy with the sales of Accutane, while the damage done by Accutane was piling up. The wave of lawsuits made Roche to be worried as the information and warnings on the drug were insufficient and inadequate. People after suffering severe injuries filed enormous lawsuits and petitions against Roche. FDA in order to support such cases issued repeated warnings to Roche instructing them to include proper warning on the drug label. This further helped healthcare experts and people to be aware about the danger Accutane was carrying.

Even after settlements in many cases and years of research it was noted that Accutane effects were severe and even life threatening. As a result the drug was finally recalled and a complete ban was levied on its sale in 2009.

After seeing such cases, it seems imperative for people to get educated and aware about the composition and after effects of any drug to protect them from facing anything so serious later.

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