Generic Brand Accutane Lawsuits Will Still Go Forward

Information provided by the manufacturers of Accutane and generic isotretinoin has been vague and confusing, leaving many doctors and patients unclear about the extent of the risk of Accutane IBD problems and the impact the bowel damage can cause. Accutane lawsuits involving bowel disease have been filed by thousands of individuals from across the United States. The complaints include allegations that the drug makers failed to properly test and research Accutane intestinal problems and failed to adequately warn about the risk of inflammatory bowel disease on Accutane. There have been thousands of reports involving inflammatory bowel disease with Accutane, often among individuals who have no prior history of intestinal problems.

Over 6,000 Accutane Lawsuits Have Been Filed in Mass Tort

Approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1982, Accutane has been the subject of controversy for years. It first garnered attention in the late eighties for causing severe birth defects. It has also been known to cause psychiatric problems, and has been linked to hundreds of cases of suicide in the United States. It was recently announced on October 4^th that Accutane lawsuits had just reached 6,384 cases. This means there has been an addition of nearly 1,200 cases since August. The spike in Accutane claims filed in New Jersey comes on the heels of a court ruling there that found the statute of limitation for such lawsuit should be based on when plaintiffs discovered there could be a connection between the Accutane and their bowel disorder.

All of the suits involve allegations that side effects of Accutane, a popular acne medication developed by Roche, caused users to develop severe gastrointestinal problems. Plaintiffs allege that Roche and generic drug makers failed to adequately research the medication or warn about the risk of inflammatory bowel disease, which could include Accutane ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. 

Accutane Inflammatory Bowel Disease Harsh Blow to Roche

The makers of the controversial, banned acne drug Accutane have appealed a case they lost against plaintiff Kamie Kendall, who won $10 million after suffering Accutane inflammatory bowel disease. Roche went down a similar road back in 2007, with plaintiff Andrew McCarrell, who won over $2 million in his initial trial against the Swiss drugmaker. However, Roche appealed the case – as they are doing now with Kamie Kendall’s case – and ended up losing again. This time, the jury ruled that they should award McCarrell over $25 million – a staggering loss for the company, and a settlement that McCarrell surely never expected.

Despite Drug Manufacturers Protests, Accutane Settlements Rise

Accutane is a powerful acne medication manufactured by Hoffman LaRoche and the subject of an Accutane recall in 2009. According to scientists, Accutane has serious long term side effects including Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Although the acne medication was removed from the market in the United States in June 2009 amid concerns about an increased risk of those diseases, an official Accutane recall was not issued. There are currently nearly 3,500 Accutane lawsuits filed in New Jersey state court. The trial date set for October will involve several groupings of plaintiffs with similar facts and warnings in place at the time the medication was used.

Accutane Retrial Could Pose Problems for Plaintiff

Although the 2008 trial Kendall v. Roche won plaintiff Kamie Kendall a significant amount in damages, defense lawyers for the pharmaceuticals giant responsible for controversial acne drug Accutane were able to reverse the decision, leading to a future retrial for the case. This does not necessarily mean that Kendall will lose her case; in fact, such retrials have proven successful for plaintiffs such as Andrew McCarrell, whose Accutane win was appealed and the retrial granted him almost ten times more than the original amount he had been awarded.

IBD Does Major Harm to Accutane Users

Accutane side effects have been found to cause permanent damage to internal organs, such as the bowel or intestines. This has left many users with severe stomach and gastrointestinal problems that cause a great deal of pain and have a devastating impact on their quality of life. In light of the Accutane lawsuits being filed by families and patients, many people are wondering what extent Accutane manufacturer Hoffmann-La Roche went to in order to minimize the appearance of deadly and severe Accutane side effects. In addition to failing to readily disclose Accutane side effects to the FDA, Roche knew about the birth defects that could occur with Accutane and pregnant women years before ever getting the 1982 FDA approval. Despite this knowledge, the FDA and the Roche SMART program aimed at preventing fetal death and birth defects in women using Accutane was not implemented until 2000.

Patients of Acne Drug Would Rather Have Acne than Side Effects Like Ulcerative Colitis

The acne drug Accutane has been in media recently because of the often-severe side effects many patients of the now-discontinued drug have experienced. Accutane lawsuits have resulted from patients wanting to collect damages. One of the most common complaints patients have is the development of inflammatory bowel disease after beginning treatment with the powerful acne drug. Inflammatory bowel disease, which affects 1 million people in the United States, is somewhat mysterious in the medical community – experts are not sure of what causes it. There are two forms of inflammatory bowel disease – Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Accutane Linked to Suicide?

At first glance isotretinoin seems like a wonder drug. It is the main ingredient in Accutane, and gives the person using it clear and unblemished skin. However, the problem comes from the very serious side effects of Accutane.

The side effects of Accutane include the possibility of having severe depression, and going on to commit suicide. This makes the decision of whether or not you should take Accutane a very difficult one. List of Side Effects If you or your child has severe or stubborn acne, Accutane seems like the perfect choice because of the track record it carries. It is very good at eliminating all types of acne. However, the side effects that it carries are massive, and include: allergic flare ups, birth defects (if pregnant), Crohn’s disease, IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease), damage to the live , Ulcerative Colitis, depression, and suicide. This drug affects all parts of the body, from digestion, to the liver, to even the brain. However, that isn’t the entire list. Those suffering from these side effects should contact an experienced Accutane lawyer immediately.

Second Ever Accutane Lawsuit Wins $2.6M

Accutane lawyers are anxiously awaiting Kamie S. Kendall vs. Hoffmann-La Roche, the next Accutane lawsuit set to go to trial in the Atlantic County New Jersey Superior Courts. In 2008, Ms. Kendall won a $10.5 million settlement after a jury agreed that Accutane had caused her to develop an extremely traumatic case of inflammatory bowel disease and that drug warnings had not warned her of the risk of Accutane induced IBD. But in 2010, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, maker of the anti-acne drug Accutane, won an appeal. The original jury verdict was reversed and the case was sent back for retrial.

Deadline Set For Consolidation

In an update on ongoing litigation involving Accutane, Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee, who is presiding over the New Jersey Accutane trials, has stated that the generic Accutane lawsuits should also be part of the same multidistrict litigation mass tort program. The once popular acne medication, Accutane, is currently engaged in lawsuits filed in multidistrict litigation numbering over 3,000.

Generic Accutane Defendants At Fault, Too

Depression, birth defects, and inflammatory bowel disease are some of the major side effects of Accutane, but generic forms of the drug – called isotretinoin – come with the same side effects as well. Patients who have experienced these symptoms are filing lawsuits against the companies responsible for the products they consumed, whether the company is Hoffman-LaRoche – makers of the brand name Accutane – or one of the generic forms of the drug.

Accutane Trial Well Underway

Trials related to the controversial acne medication Accutane, manufactured by Roche, are well underway in New Jersey, with three plaintiffs finally presenting their long-awaited cases. James Marshall, Kelley Andrews, and Gillian Gaghan have all been affected by gastrointestinal disorders that they believe are a result of the once-popular acne medication, which has been discontinued by Roche after allegations of serious side effects began to surface. The drug, which contains the active ingredient isotretinoin, was initially introduced to the pharmaceuticals market as chemotherapy, and was only approved for treatment of severe acne years later.

Accutane Trials Continue

This week marks the fourth since the New Jersey Accutane trial began, and plaintiffs – as well as potential plaintiffs – are waiting to see what kind of result will come from the trial, which may indicate the kind of settlements they will be able to expect from their own trials. Accutane lawyers, too, are using this initial trial, which combines the lawsuits of three patients, to gauge the kind of settlement their clients may be able to receive as well as the feel of the trial process for this particular case.

James Marshall, Kelly Andrews, and Gillian Gaghan are all former Accutane users and all suffer from gastrointestinal diseases that they believe are a result of their Accutane use. James Marshall was an aspiring actor who developed a debilitating bowel disease that ended his promising career, which included roles in movies such as Gladiator and A Few Good Men. Hollywood celebrities, including Martin Sheen and Rob Reiner, are expected to be brought into court to testify on Marshall’s behalf.

Kelly Andrews, an account manager, suffers from Crohn’s disease and has endured 7 major surgeries, one of which removed her colon. She began taking Accutane when her doctor prescribed it to her at the age of 17. She is now 29 years old and has been hospitalized over 25 times as a result of her condition. Gillian Gaghan was 22 when she began taking the medication, and started experiencing symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome within months. Now 34, she is expected to endure flare-ups of the condition throughout the rest of her life.

Representatives for Accutane drugmaker Roche claim that the link between Accutane and certain gastrointestinal disorders is not conclusive, and maintain that the warnings they placed on the product were sufficient enough to cover any potential side effects. Roche is due to begin their testimony in about two weeks, and the trial is expected to be concluded in about 6 weeks.

Coming Up with an Accurate Estimated Accutane Lawsuit Settlement Amount

Estimating the amount of compensation that could be awarded to an individual in response to an Accutane lawsuit is difficult; some might say impossible. Every Accutane lawsuit is unique; there are no two cases exactly alike. Because of the unique nature of each different lawsuit it’s not surprising that there is no “formula” that will provide prospective Accutane lawsuit plaintiffs with an “expected” monetary outcome.

Accutane Lawsuit Gets Underway

More than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed against drugmaker Roche for their acne drug Accutane, pulled from the market in 2009, between September 23, 2004 and February 16, 2011. There seems to be no sign of the influx slowing down, either – more than 300 lawsuits have been filed just since the beginning of 2011. Many of these lawsuits are being consolidated in a multidistrict litigation case in New Jersey, that is being presided over by Judge Carol Higbee of Atlantic City. Although the legal process is often lengthy, plaintiffs hoping for some form of compensation for their Accutane-related suffering should have hope – the first three trials in the case have gotten under way this week, meaning more trials won’t be far behind.

Understanding Accutane Settlements and Jury Verdicts

If you have suffered negative side effects from prescription drug Accutane, informing yourself of the facts surrounding the ongoing Accutane litigation is essential. Lawsuits can be resolved through a settlement or a jury verdict, and it is important to understand the difference.

Accutane Lawsuits So Far

Thus far, more than 1,000 Accutane lawsuits have been filed across the nation since the acne treatment medication was withdrawn from the U.S. market in July 2009. Accutane has been linked to severe gastrointestinal side effects such as ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

As of August 2010, six of these lawsuits have reached a trial and received a verdict. A jury verdict was decided in all six, in favor of the plaintiff. So far, Swiss drugmaker Roche, the manufacturer of Accutane, has paid more than $50 million in damages to former Accutane users who filed suit.

Accutane Trial Trends

If Roche had reached a settlement with the plaintiffs mentioned above, they almost certainly could have saved themselves a lot of money. The damages imposed by jury verdicts have been high and have attracted a lot of media attention. In one instance, a Florida jury awarded an Accutane plaintiff $25 million. In this much-publicized case, Roche appealed the decision, which the judge decided to uphold. If Roche had settled out of court they could have avoided a costly lawsuit as well as numerous mentions in the news. However the lawyers defending Roche felt confident that they could win, and by doing so hoped to set a precedent that would work to their benefit for future Accutane trials. Instead, they have argued and lost in six successive trials and it has cost them dearly.

How an Accutane Jury Verdict Works

When an Accutane lawsuit reaches trial, the court will make a decision either in favor of the plaintiff (the individual or people who filed the lawsuit) or in favor of the defendant (in these cases, Accutane manufacturer Roche). When the court declares the plaintiff the winner of the case, the defendant may be required to compensate the plaintiff for damages suffered, normally in the form of a specific sum. A jury verdict may be appealed to a higher court by the losing party if they feel that they have just cause for an appeal, such as judicial error.

How an Accutane Settlement Works

Once a lawsuit has been filed, the defendant and the plaintiff may decide to negotiate outside the courtroom and agree upon a settlement sum. An out-of-court settlement may be reached during pre-trial proceedings, such as consolidation for MDL (multi-district litigation) or even while the case is being tried. Typically a settlement will consist of monetary compensation paid to the plaintiff by the defendant, and if a settlement is reached then the plaintiff agrees to release the defendant from the lawsuit and any further liability.

Possibilities for Accutane Plaintiffs

Roche may have had enough of being on the losing side of Accutane trials. In May 2010 the pharmaceutical company reached an Accutane settlement with a plaintiff in Illinois. The man in this case had filed a lawsuit against Roche after being stricken with severe Accutane side effects. The terms of his settlement were not announced, but the fact that a settlement took place sends an important message: it may now be easier for other Accutane victims to obtain a settlement of their own.

Accutane Lawsuits Finally Reach Court

After months of delay, the Accutane lawsuits of plaintiffs Kelley Andrews, Gillian Gaghan, and James Marshall are set to begin in New Jersey. Although only a few of the thousands of plaintiffs who have filed suit due to Accutane-related side effects are represented in this trial, it is notable in that it is testing the waters, so to speak, for future trials.

Accutane is a powerful acne medication that was often prescribed in severe cases when antibiotics and topical ointments weren’t doing the trick, but it was pulled from the market by its manufacturer, Hoffman-La Roche, in 2009. The recall was allegedly due to competition from generic products, but Hoffman-La Roche was already being flooded with lawsuits due to the side effects associated with the medication. Among these were those filed by Andrews, Gaghan, and Marshall – the three plaintiffs are all filing suit because they suffer from inflammatory bowel disease that they believe comes from Accutane. Inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, encompasses conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Although the trial was originally scheduled to take place last fall, it was delayed after a New Jersey appeals court reversed a decision that would have awarded plaintiff Kamie Kendall $10.5 million. Kendall’s colon was removed due to Accutane side effects. The reversal came when a judge determined that Hoffman-La Roche was not given a fair opportunity to present data on the total number of people who have used Accutane during the trial. A retrial is due to take place, with jury selection set to begin in May.

Although the cases are all different, the three plaintiffs in this trial have something in common – they have suffered due to a medication that was meant to improve their lives. Marshall was an aspiring actor, who had a role in A Few Good Men shortly before he had to have his colon removed. Gaghan developed lupus as a result of her IBD treatment. Each of these plaintiffs deserves to have their say in court.

Accutane Cases Settled Out of Court

Hoffman-La Roche, the manufacturers of now-defunct acne drug Accutane, have claimed that the removal of their product from the market was caused by competition from generic products, but evidence points to something else entirely – the multitude of lawsuits filed by former patients of the drug that claim serious side effects such as bowel disease as a result of taking the medication. Other complaints include an increased risk of suicide as well as birth defects.

Each of the lawsuits that have gone to trial against the corporation have turned out with the juries siding with the plaintiff, meaning that the victims of the serious side effects of the drug have been receiving settlements to benefit them after whatever ordeal they may have suffered because of the medication. For example, hairdresser Kamie Kendall won a settlement of $11 million after she claimed that Accutane, which she had been prescribed at age 12, had caused her to develop ulcerative colitis.

An unnamed plaintiff was awarded $2.25 million when her child was born with severe heart defects caused by the drug, and the family of a teenage boy who had been prescribed Accutane settled with the company out of court after alleging that his prescription had contributed to the circumstances surrounding his Accutane-related suicide. The lawsuits against the company claim that Hoffman-La Roche marketed and sold its product with at least some knowledge that it could cause bowel diseases, birth defects, and contribute to psychiatric problems but neglected to inform either patients or doctors about these risks.

Despite the fact that the drug has not been on the market since it was pulled in 2009, the court system is still overwhelmed by lawsuits against the medication that are still awaiting either trial or settlement. Many of these suits will go to trial in 2011.

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.

Accutane Plaintiffs Win Awards in Court

James Marshall, Andrew McCarrell, and Adam Mason are not names that you may know, but they are involved in cases that may shape the outcomes of many people’s lives – they are three men who have filed suits against Roche, the manufacturer of the acne medication Accutane, and two of these men have won significant settlements from the company, possibly shaping the outcomes of future lawsuits.

James Marshall was an aspiring Hollywood actor, snagging parts in Twin Peaks, A Few Good Men, and Gladiator before he was forced to have his colon removed due to inflammatory bowel disease. His case is on hold due to the retrial of a similar Accutane-related lawsuit in New Jersey. Andrew McCarrell initially won $2.62 million from Roche in 2007 after Accutane left him needing five surgeries and a removed colon, but the drugmaker appealed the decision and won. McCarrell, a computer programmer from Alabama, was allowed a retrial in 2010 and won a final settlement of $25.16 million. Adam Mason’s case was also appealed by Roche, but he ended up netting $7 million in damages after developing Crohn’s disease after being prescribed Accutane in 1991.

Accutane was a heavy-duty acne medication, used in the treatment of acne that was not helped by other methods such as ointments and antibiotics, that was pulled from the shelves in 2009 – purportedly due to generic competition, but evidence points towards the increase in the reports of side effects associated with the medication, as well as the many Accutane lawsuits the company is now being forced to deal with. Unfortunately, Marshall, McCarrell, and Mason are not the only people who have suffered because of Accutane, but thanks to the lawsuits that have achieved settlements for their plaintiffs due to their pain and suffering they have endured as well as medical costs and losses in their income.