Accutane, Hoffman-LaRoche, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) & Crohn’s Disease: A recent case in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division recently ruled on several motions on appeal.
Accutane, Hoffman-LaRoche, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) & Crohn’s Disease case documents what many accutane prescription drug users may be experiencing today – potential inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s Disease or other problem from the use of the acne drug accutane. The court ruled on the motions.
To find out more on the case, see Case Nos. A-3427-09T4, A-3428-09T4, A-3702-09T4 – August 7, 2012.
A brief summary of the facts include:
- The present plaintiffs, Lance Sager, Jordan Speisman, and Kelly Mace, are all residents of Florida. They each started taking Accutane, which had been prescribed by their respective dermatologists, for acne in the late 1990s when they were teenagers.
- At the time of plaintiffs’ treatment with Accutane, the warnings Roche provided with the drug indicated that it had been “temporally associated” with inflammatory bowel disease (“IBD”). The warning was strengthened by Roche in 2003, but by that point Sager, Speisman, and Mace had already discontinued taking Accutane after each had been diagnosed with and treated for IBD.
- IBD refers to “several chronic incurable diseases characterized by inflammation of the intestine.” In general, IBD presents as one of two conditions: Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
- Ulcerative colitis, the condition with which Speisman and Mace were diagnosed after taking Accutane, is “a chronic condition characterized by ulceration of the colon and rectum.” People who suffer from ulcerative colitis have frequent and often bloody bowel movements.
- The bowel movements may be accompanied by fatigue, dehydration, anemia, cramping, abdominal pain, and bloating.
- Crohn’s disease, the condition with which Sager was diagnosed after taking Accutane, is similar to ulcerative colitis in that it causes inflammation and ulcers, but it can occur in any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus, although it mainly occurs in the ileum and the colon.
- Ileitis is a form of Crohn’s disease involving inflammation of the small intestine.
ACCUTANE
Accutane (isotretinoin) is a drug that was developed by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. for treating severe cystic (nodular) acne. Accutane is also marketed under the names Roaccutane, Amnesteem, Claravis and Sotret. Accutane is known as a retinoid, and is a synthetic form of Vitamin A. Accutane was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1982.
Accutane Health Concerns
According to many reviews and reports, Accutane treatment may have a number of long term and serious side effects, including:
- Birth defects
- Suicide
- Depression
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Crohn’s Disease
- Colitis (ulcerative), and many other Accutane side effects
For more on Accutane, please follow this link…
Contact Us
At the Gooch Law Firm, we pride ourselves on providing our clients reliable representation for even the most challenging cases. If you have taken the acne drug accutane and been diagnosed with one of the above noted problems (inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s Disease, ulcerative colitis…), please contact our office at 1.844.329.5955.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU PROTECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS