Verdicts in Accutane Lawsuits Favor Plaintiffs

There have been many Accutane side effects lawsuits filed against Roche, the Swiss drugmaker responsible for the acne-fighting medicine. Early reports made public some of the Accutane settlements, and helped speed Accutane’s removal from pharmacy shelves across the United States. Lawyers with experience handling Accutane lawsuits will most often take into consideration the fact that the claim may be settled out of court. Thus far, Roche has faced a series of losses in the courtroom. The verdicts handed down by juries have consistently been in favor of plaintiffs, and the defendant has been required to make several considerably large payments to compensate plaintiffs for pain and suffering related to Accutane side effects. Those individuals currently awaiting trial for their Accutane lawsuits should be optimistic about their chances of receiving fair compensation from Roche.

Accutane’s Many Serious Side Effects Come to Light

Accutane, which was introduced in the 1980s, is a remarkably effective treatment for individuals struggling with acne. However it also has been found to produce serious side effects in many users, leading to its discontinuation in America in June of 2009. Roche, the Swiss manufacturer of Accutane, stated that their decision to withdraw Accutane from the U.S. market was a direct effect of the costs involved in defending against Accutane side effects lawsuits.

Even though Roche withdrew Accutane, there are still several generic forms of the same drug that continue to be available. All versions of this medication are capable of producing severe side effects that can endanger the health and life of consumers. It’s no surprise that numerous lawsuits have been filed as a result. Some of these are still pending, while others have been settled before reaching trial.

A research study first published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology reported that Accutane use leads to quadruple the risk of developing ulcerative colitis. This same study also linked increased doses of Accutane to increased risk of contracting a serious inflammatory bowel disease. It has been effectively determined that there is a direct causal relationship between Accutane and bowel disorders.

In February 2010, Health Canada advised caution to all Accutane users based on multiple reports of serious skin reactions, including Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, which is known to be fatal in some cases. Health Canada referred to 66 different reports of severe skin conditions resulting from Accutane use. Two of these 66 were fatal.

Most Recent Accutane Lawsuit Reports:

• May 2010: Jason Peipert, a former Accutane user, claimed that he had contracted severe inflammatory bowel disease (or IBD) brought on by Accutane consumption. His lawsuit was settled before reaching trial when Mr. Peipert agreed to a settlement offer from Roche Laboratories.
• Early 2010: A New Jersey jury awarded $25.6 million, the largest Accutane compensation sum to date, to conclude the Accutane trial of plaintiff Andrew McCarrell. Mr. McCarrell now has no colon. It had to be removed after he endured five separate surgeries for bowel disorders stemming from his past Accutane use.
• There have been almost 1,000 separate Accutane lawsuits filed, and there are consistent allegations across the board that the manufacturer failed to provide appropriate warning to users about the serious side effects associated with Accutane. In the majority of these cases, it has been decided that Roche was indeed negligent, and the drugmaker has been held financially responsible.
• To date, Roche has been ruled against in every Accutane lawsuit related to bowel disease that has gone to trial. The amount Roche has been ordered to pay to plaintiffs is more than $56 million.

Nevertheless, any responsible Accutane lawyer will caution that past performance is not always an accurate indicator of future events. But it can be safely said that the plaintiffs of many Accutane lawsuits have presented cases that have moved juries to rule in their favor in record-high compensation sums.