Accutane Inflammatory Bowel Disease Update

A New Jersey state court jury was unable to render a verdict in the most recent Accutane product liability trial. The plaintiffs had alleged that the acne medication Accutane caused a teenager to suffer inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as a result of Accutane side effects.

The Accutane product liability claim, was brought by the parents of Priya Tanna, who was 15 when she started taking the Roche medication to treat her acne.

Roche claimed that there was a 7-step warning process in place before Tanna began taking Accutane, and therefore, they are not liable for the injuries.

As deliberations was drawn out, the jury failed to come to an agreement on the claims, resulting in a hung jury.

This case was one of about 6,000 Accutane lawsuits that are currently pending in New Jersey state court before Judge Carol E. Higbee. All of the complaints involve similar allegations that plaintiffs developed inflammatory bowel disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s disease and other severe and chronic debilitating bowel injuries.

Accutane, known generically as isotretinoin, has been used by more than 16 million people worldwide since it was first introduced in the early 1980s as a treatment for severe acne.

Roche stopped the manufacturing of Accutane in June 2009, but a number of generic versions remain available under names such as Claravis, Sotret, Amnesteem and generic isotretinoin.

To date, plaintiffs have been successful in seven out of the first 10 Accutane bowel disease lawsuits that have been presented to a jury.