By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    medicare part d benefits
    Everything that You Need to Know About Medicare Part D
    August 15, 2022
    Best Ways to Boost Your Immune System this Winter
    Best Ways to Boost Your Immune System this Winter
    November 15, 2022
    back pain issues
    Ways to Treat Constant Back Pain
    August 21, 2023
    Latest News
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    More On Wellness Programs To Improve Health and Reduce Costs
    January 25, 2012
    Privatizing Social Security and Medicare: Who Can Defuse Political Dynamite?
    June 12, 2011
    Study: Risk of Death in Elderly Patients with Dementia Doubled with Some Antipsychotic Medications
    February 26, 2012
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Accutane Users Win Huge Verdict Against Roche. Who’s the Winner?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Accutane Users Win Huge Verdict Against Roche. Who’s the Winner?
Policy & Law

Accutane Users Win Huge Verdict Against Roche. Who’s the Winner?

Michael Kirsch
Michael Kirsch
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

I was engaged in one of my pleasures, sitting in a coffee shop leafing through medical journals. Usually, I am perusing newspapers.

I was engaged in one of my pleasures, sitting in a coffee shop leafing through medical journals. Usually, I am perusing newspapers. I spend many hours each week combing through various newspapers and routinely forward items of interest to folks whom I know would be interested in a particular item or opinion piece. No newspapers today. I have a few gastroenterology journals to look through. My professional reading habits have evolved over my career. I am more interested in reading about medical ethics, health care policy and the art of medicine than in studying hard science or clinical research, which used to be my required reading during my early years.

I read an essay entitled, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Patients’ Willingness to Take Risks with Medications published in the June 2012 issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology. The article stated that IBS patients would accept a small chance of death if there was an overwhelming likelihood of cure. This caught my attention. Of course, IBS can be a debilitating illness. But, it is not cancer and poses no threat to life. Nevertheless, patients who are desperate for succor, would accept a small risk of a premature journey to the hereafter. While many physician would not be comfortable with these odds, if patients make an informed judgment, then it is their call to make.

Patients need to know the material risks of a medicine or treatment in order to provide informed consent. For example, many successful medical malpractice lawsuits prevail because the plaintiff claims that the physician ‘failed to warn’ of a known complication. The plaintiff claims that had he been properly warned of potential rare complication, that he would have rejected the risky and reckless treatment. These cases often suspend disbelief. Do we believe that a patient with a serious medical condition would have declined a treatment if informed about a 1 or 2% chance of a dangerous complication? Give me a break.

More Read

Media Begin Focus on Next Iteration of ACA
The “Deep State” in American Health Care
The 10 Commandments of Patient Engagement
Is IRO Right for You?
Can Medical Devices Help Reduce the Cost of Healthcare?

In New Jersey, a cauldron for medical malpractice litigation, a jury awarded damages of $18 million to two plaintiffs who developed colitis after taking the drug Accutane. They claim that the company, Roche, failed to warn about this complication. There remain over 7000 cases of alleged Accutane induced colitis that are pending. The company Roche has paid out nearly $80 million in verdicts and denies that their medication causes this complication. I wonder how much medical research could have been funded with this incomprehensible amount of cash.

I am a gastroenterologist who has never seen a case of colitis linked to Accutane. I am not certain that this complication truly exists, even though a jury of ordinary folks can accept this, particularly when an ailing person is seeking ‘justice’ from a rich and heartless pharmaceutical company. The first I ever learned of a supposed cnnection between Accutane and colitis was when I read about a medical malpractice case in a newspaper years ago.

Does this drug truly cause colitis? Who knows? Is the company responsible for not warning about a complication that it doesn’t believe exists? Do we believe that a patient with disfiguring acne (Accutane was prescribed for severe acne, not typical teenage blemishes.) would decline a highly effective medicine because there might be an extremely small risk of developing severe colitis? I would suggest that these patients, like suffering IBS patients, would accept considerable risk in return for considerable relief.

In 2009, Roche took Accutane off the market after enduring tens of millions of dollars in verdicts. Who emerges victorious here? Choose the best answer.

  • The public
  • The medical profession
  • Roche
  • Trial Lawyers

Would trial lawyers abandon a case if there was a 1% chance they would lose?

TAGGED:Accutanecolitispharma
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025
a woman giving a key
How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
Health
July 16, 2025
a woman with kinesio tapes on her back arm
How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

A patient having his blood pressure taken by a...
Medical Education

Age is not equal to wisdom

June 21, 2012

Are Women Getting Crazier? Medco Seems to Think So

March 21, 2012
Image
Health ReformPolicy & Law

State Alternatives to Medicaid Expansion

April 13, 2013
doctor/patient relationship
Health ReformMedical Education

Patient Satisfaction and P4P – Three Things Doctors Need to Know

February 11, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?