Accutane Side Effects: Hair Loss, Liver Damage, Crohn’s Disease

Accutane Side Effects: Hair Loss, Liver Damage, Crohn’s Disease. Don’t let your desire to have an acne-free face blind you from the possible side effects of whatever anti-acne medication you are taking. For instance, Accutane, an anti-acne medication manufactured by Roche is listed by Drug Watch to have the following side effects:

Severe Accutane side effects include:

  • Ulcerative colitis
  • Crohn’s Disease
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • Severe depression
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Birth defects
  • Liver damage, with symptoms of nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, and jaundice (yellowing of the eyes or skin)
  • Allergic reaction to isotretinoin, resulting in liver disease and other health complications

accutane side effects

Additional Accutane side effects:

  • Acne flare-ups
  • Severe skin dryness, especially on the lips, nostrils, genitals, and eyes
  • Hair thinning
  • Headache
  • Hair loss
  • Thinning of the skin, making bruising and cuts more likely and slower to heal
  • Eczema
  • Fatigue
  • Brittle nails
  • Increased sensitivity to sunlight
  • Menstrual problems, including irregular or heavier period
  • Gastrointestinal problems, including diarrhea
  • Muscle pain
  • Skin conditions and infections, including impetigo, paronychia, and pyogenic granuloma

Those are pretty serious side effects, eh? So its not surprising that several Accutane users have sued the manufacturer because of the negative side effects of the drug.

Lawyersandsettlements.com reports on these lawsuits:

In February, 2009, Roche Holding AG was ordered to pay $25.16 million in damages to a former Accutane user who said his use of the drug resulted in inflammatory bowel disease. A jury reached the verdict at a retrial after a previous $2.62 million award to the plaintiff was overturned. According to Bloomberg (02/16/10), the plaintiff, Andrew McCarrell, said he became ill after taking Accutane in 1995. McCarrell reportedly required five surgeries, including one surgery in which his colon was removed.

Bloomberg notes that McCarrell’s verdict was the largest of six Accutane-related lawsuits, in which plaintiffs won a total of $56 million. Plaintiffs in all cases alleged Roche did not adequately warn Accutane users about the risks associated with the drug. Although Roche lost every lawsuit, a Florida appeals court has overturned one of the judgments for $7.2 million. There are still approximately 1,000 other lawsuits regarding Accutane pending.

Want more stories on the side effects of other drugs?

Accutane Side Effects: Hair Loss, Liver Damage, Crohn’s Disease. Posted 28 May 2010. Last updated 28 May 2010.

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