Accutane costs N.J. man his colon—but Roche resists paying up

In a recent case in New Jersey, a former user of the acne medication Accutane has been awarded over $25 million after the medication was found to cause inflammatory bowel disease. The plaintiff, 38-year-old Andrew McCarell, testified that he had begun using the medication in 1995. His worsening bowel conditions required five surgeries. Finally, his colon had to be removed.

Accutane has created an ongoing legal nightmare for its developer, Roche Holding AG. The company stopped selling the drug in June of 2009 because of the numerous complaints it received, although its spokespersons still say that competition from generics—and the high cost of defending against personal injury lawsuits—are the real reasons why the drug was discontinued. Roche has had over 1,000 (one thousand!) law suits concerning Accutane. Virtually all have argued that the company has never adequately warned of its risks. The drug, which came onto the market in 1982, has been blamed for many health problems including depression, Crohn’s disease, and birth defects.

Unsurprisingly, a statement issued by Roche pretends to empathy but disavows any responsibility:

“Our sympathies remain with Andrew McCarrell over his disease. Both the finding and the amount of damages were unsupported by the evidence. Roche acted appropriately in providing information about Accutane, including a direct warning about inflammatory bowel disease, to the medical, scientific and regulatory communities.”

Roche is planning to attempt to have McCarell’s award reduced or eliminated on appeal—along with all the others