Accutane® Lawsuit
If you have developed serious side effects and would like to speak with an attorney about you right to file an Accutane® lawsuit, please contact us today. Our Accutane® lawyers can help you seek and recover compensation for the pain and suffering you've endured as well as the medical costs and other financial losses associated with your injury.
Who Is Eligible to File a Claim?
Anyone who has used the powerful acne medication Accutane® and been harmed as a result can file a claim against the manufacturer, Hoffmann-La Roche. The company pulled the drug from the market in June 2009, saying lawsuits and competition from generic manufacturers were costing too much money.
Thousands of people are suing the drug company for dangerous, sometimes life-threatening side effects. Lawsuits are being consolidated in the state of New Jersey against the company. Over 3,200 cases have been consolidated so far in the state. About 9 percent of the lawsuits are being filed by patients using generic brands of the drug. Over $45 million has been awarded to plaintiffs so far.
Types of Side Effects Linked to Accutane®
Severe side effects from using Accutane® have been known for years. They include:
Birth Defects
Atrocious birth defects have developed in infants born to mothers who took Accutane® during their pregnancies. The birth defects were so common and severe that women of childbearing age could only receive an Accutane® prescription after pledging to use two types of contraception and receiving monthly screening tests for pregnancy.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Inflammatory bowel disease is classified as either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Serious inflammation of the digestive tract occurs in both types of disease. Often, a differential diagnosis can be difficult to make.
- Ulcerative colitis usually affects just the inside layer of the intestine. It is characterized by rectal bleeding and pain, bloody diarrhea, cramps and pain in the abdomen, weight loss, fatigue, and an urge to move the bowels but being unable to.
- Crohn's disease affects the outside and deeper layers of the intestine. The top layer is swollen and ulcerated. The walls of the intestine thicken. The disease spreads deep into other layers of the organ. Crohn's disease can be extremely painful and incapacitating.
- Treatment for IBD can involve drugs with undesirable, painful side effects and surgery. Sometimes a part of the colon must be removed. Many people have endured more than a single surgery.
- Patients with IBD suffer long-term consequences of both the disease and the treatments.
Depression & Suicide
Depression and suicidal tendencies have affected a significant number of Accutane® users.
Contact an Accutane® Side Effect Lawyer
If you have endured any of these side effects from taking Accutane®, you deserve compensation for the pain, suffering and expense the drug has caused you. To find out if you qualify to file a lawsuit, contact an Accutane® side effects attorney today.