Accutane IBD Trial Gets Hollywood Treatment

Atlantic City, NJA trial regarding Accutane inflammatory bowel disease that starts this week will likely be given the star treatment, as one of three plaintiffs is a promising Hollywood actor whose career has been cut short due to alleged Accutane side effects.

Fans of the 1992 blockbuster movie "A Few Good Men" would likely recognize James Marshall, who played US Marine Louden Downey. Marshall claims that he was headed for a promising film career in the same league as James Dean. However, after Marshall started taking Accutane to combat acne, he suffered various bowel ailments that he claims were triggered by the medication.

Dotors eventually had to remove his colon.

Marshall's Accutane trial has been combined with two other plaintiffs and will be considered by a jury in New Jersey Superior Court before Judge Carol Higbee in Atlantic City, according to the 7/30/10 issue of Bloomberg News.

Martin Sheen, 69, who starred in such iconic films as Apocalypse Now and Wall Street, and who played the President for several seasons on television show "The West Wing," is expected to testify that he has known Marshall and his family since the plaintiff was a baby. Bloomberg reports that Sheen will attest to the young actor's promise.

Similar testimonies are expected from fellow actors Brian Dennehy (Gorky Park), Esai Morales (NYPD Blue) and director Rob Reiner, who will provide a video deposition.

All are expected to testify that the plaintiff was headed to certain stardom in Hollywood before Accutane side effects cut short his career.

Accutane manufacturer Roche Holding AG, based in Switzerland, pulled Accutane from the market in 2009 in an effort to cut its losses stemming from lawsuits. Bloomberg reports that Roche has lost all seven Accutane cases that have gone to trial, although it should be noted that two of those decisions were overturned on appeal—and Roche has managed to have some cases dismissed in federal court.

Still, the manufacturer has paid out millions in defense costs and jury awards to plaintiffs. "Roche has been faced with high costs from personal-injury lawsuits that the company continues to defend vigorously," company officials said in a 2009 statement.

Roche defends its drug by noting that warnings have cautioned about the possibility of Accutane IBD for 25 years. "Since 1984, Roche has responsibly warned about the possibility of inflammatory bowel disease to the medical, scientific and regulatory communities, even though the science to this date questions whether such a link exists," wrote Christopher Vancheri, a New Jersey-based spokesman for Roche, in an e-mail statement.

Roche's Accutane acne medication was joined by generic competitors in 2002, many of which remain on the market to this day. While Roche is based in Switzerland, Accutane was manufactured by Roche subsidiary Hoffmann-LaRoche Inc. of Nutley, New Jersey. This allowed the Accutane attorneys representing the three plaintiffs to have their cases heard in the state.