Accutane Created Bowel Issues
Accutane is a treatment for nodular acne that was pulled from the market in late June of 2009 due to the low price of shares since a number of generic drugs became available that claimed to do the same thing. Millions of people had been using Accutane since its first release in 1982, and gave the makers an estimated $1.2 billion in profit on an annual basis for all of those years. The main reason it was so profitable is the fact that there is a recorded 85 percent success rate with users of Accutane ending their nodular acne episodes.
Eighty five percent success is a very high instance considering how dangerous the drug was to take. The FDA and makers of Accutane got together to create the iPLEDGE program that required constant pregnancy tests for women that were prescribed Accutane due to the high risk of birth defects and fetal death that could occur. Due to the severity of the birth defects issue, women that were prescribed Accutane were also required to take two birth control medications to guarantee that there would be no issues, along with a signed contract stating they would not be getting pregnant while on Accutane.
Years after Accutane had become a success for treating nodular acne, severe side effects such as Crohn’s Disease, IBD, and Ulcerative Colitis were reported. This prompted thousands of lawsuits towards the makers of Accutane. Most of these lawsuits stated that the makers of Accutane knew well in advance that these issues could become common with people using the medication and failed to report it to the FDA. The FDA, in turn, forced warning labels on all prescriptions of Accutane warning of the possibility of these severe side effects.
Since Accutane has been pulled from the market, over $30 million in damages have been awarded in lawsuits for people that received the short end of the stick because of severe side-effects. Many of these lawsuits are still pending and more are coming to light as the side effects might not show up for years after you have stopped taking the medication.
