Accutane has been touted as a miracle drug for acne due to the amazing results some people have experienced, particularly those with scarring acne. However, a recent study has found that there is an increased risk in developing inflammatory bowel disease in people who have taken the drug. Accutane has a long and controversial past and some wonder--will this news finally take it off the market?
Accutane has been used by over 13 million people and until recently, had been a 200 million dollar money maker for Roche Pharmaceuticals. However, Accutane also has a significant history of side effects ranging from depression and suicide to birth defects and the company is involved in nearly 1,000 lawsuits. This past February a case was settled in N.J. for $25 million dollars to a man who developed inflammatory bowel disease after taking the drug.
Roche pulled Accutane from the market last June claiming they had stopped manufacturing it due to legal expenses, not due to safety concerns. Although Roche has stopped making Accutane, generic Accutane sold as isotretinoin is still available and prescribed.
What has kept Accutane on the market all these years is its success at treating acne unresponsive to other medications. According to the L.A. times, improvement has occurred in 99 percent of patients and 70 percent have been cured using the medication.
A recent study has found that the users of Accutane had twice the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease and almost four times the risk of developing ulcerative colitis than those who had not used the drug. This risk increased the longer the person stayed on Accutane. People usually take the drug daily for three to six months.
Other previous studies have shown that Accutane does not cause an increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease including a large study published last July in the American Journal of Gastroenterology performed in Canada.
According to Dr. Seth Crockett, lead researcher of the study showing increased bowel disease risk, it is important to remember that overall, the number of people diagnosed each year with these diseases is low, five to ten per 100,000 . “There is no biological explanation for why isotretinoin might increase the risk of bowel disease”, he reported in the LA times.
The difficulty of pulling a drug like isotretinoin off the market entirely is that while it has clearly documented health care risks, there are those who state that the emotional and psychological scarring of acne is worse than the acne itself. There are people who feel that Accutane has given them their lives back and they would gladly take it again, risks accepted, to no longer suffer from this physical deformity.
The alternate argument is that no one has ever died from having acne but people have died and will die from the side effects of this dangerous drug. Where do we draw the line on when it is okay to use a drug known to be harmful and when do patients have the right to say they are willing to take that risk to improve their quality of life?
sources:
www.aboutlawsuits.com/accutane-lawsuit-inflammatory-bowel-disease-verdict-8334/
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-accutane7-2009nov07,0,6772351,full.story
Michele is an R.N. freelance writer with a special interest in woman’s healthcare and quality of care issues. Other articles by Michele are at www.helium.com/users/487540/show_articles