Attorney Speaks About Accutane and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

March 9, 2010, 3:30PM. By Heidi Turner

Edwardsville, ILPatients who feel that they were not adequately warned about Accutane side effects such as inflammatory bowel disease may want to speak with an attorney. Bob Rowland, attorney and partner at Goldenberg Heller Antognoli & Rowland, says there is still time for patients who suffered inflammatory bowel disease to file a lawsuit against the maker of Accutane.

Accutane was approved to treat recalcitrant nodular cystic acne, a condition in which patients develop large, inflamed cystic lesions on their face and back. The medication works by decreasing the amount of oil the patient's body produces.

"Typically people are on this Accutane regiment between three and 20 months," Rowland says. "The damage can occur slowly and over time. People who discontinued Accutane up to four years ago are still being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. The reason for this delay is also because the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease are similar to so many other conditions. A patient probably wouldn't think that something they are taking for acne would affect their colon and a doctor wouldn't make inflammatory bowel disease his first diagnosis, so there is often a three- to four-year latency before the patient receives a diagnosis."

A main issue with inflammatory bowel disease is that some patients require surgery to remove part or all of their colon. This can lead to other complications for the patients.

"Often, doctors try to treat inflammatory bowel disease with medication," Rowland says. "But if it is serious, unfortunately the final treatment is removing the colon. It's obviously very serious and can be complicated. We know the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease is several times higher in people who take Accutane than in the general public. The thing is, these are usually teenagers. Twenty-year-olds shouldn't have their colons removed."

Manufacturer Hoffman-La Roche removed Accutane from the market in June 2009. However, generic versions of Accutane, including Claravis, Sotret and Amnesteem are still available.

"There have been six Accutane lawsuits involving its ability to cause inflammatory bowel disease," Rowland says. "All six verdicts were for the plaintiffs [a Florida appeals court overturned one of the judgments]. The most recent verdict came down a month ago in New Jersey. The jury awarded him $25.16 million. The plaintiff, Mr. McCarrell, had five surgeries and had his colon removed."

Even patients who took Accutane years ago and were recently diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease should contact a lawyer. In some states, including New Jersey, where Hoffman-La Roche is headquartered and where many lawsuits have been filed, the statute of limitations depends on when the diagnosis was made, not on when the patient took the medication.

"The Discovery Rule, used in many states, including Illinois and New Jersey, provides that the deadline for filing a lawsuit starts to run when the person knew or should have known that they were injured and that it was wrongfully caused," Rowland says.

Symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease include stomachache, diarrhea and nausea—which could be symptoms of many other health problems, as well. Inflammatory bowel disease may also cause rectal bleeding. These symptoms will persist for a long time, much longer than the flu or another less serious problem.

"If someone has taken Accutane before and has had the continuous or intermittent symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, they should see their doctor," Rowland says. "It's not something that will get better on its own."

Robert Rowland is the head of personal injury and mass torts at Goldenberg Heller Antognoli & Rowland, P.C. He has been a lawyer for 22 years. Rowland is the holder of one of the top ten jury verdicts in Missouri, as reported in the Missouri Lawyer's Weekly.