Persons suffering a bowel disease or other health problem as a result of taking Accutane or generic Accutane have at least one thing in common: They've taken a defective drug with an active ingredient called Isotretinoin. But though they may know what Accutane does and what it signifies -- it's designed as an acne treatment -- they may not know much about Isotretinoin.
Also known as a retinoic acid derivative, Isotretinoin was developed in 1982 by Hoffmann La Roche, a major pharmaceutical corporation. Dr. Gary Peck discovered that Isotretinoin could be used to treat acne, and also could be used for chemotherapy purposes. Dr. Peck even received awards and commendations for his discoveries.A retinoic acid is a fat-soluble vitamin A. It has been used to provide high doses of vitamin A in order to fight acne as far back as the 1930s. But with Isotretinoin, that use became even more potent.
When Isotretinoin became an active ingredient in the acne treatment Accutane as it went on the market in 1982, acne sufferers suddenly had a strong and effective means to fight acne, by orally taking the medication for four to five months. The drug was immediately popular and a big seller, generating up to $1.2 billion in profits per year for Roche.
What the drug's users did not know was that Isotretinoin could have serious health consequences. Some of the first known harmful side effects were birth defects. In fact, even upon Accutane's introduction, it was known that about one third of pregnant women who took the drug would give birth to malformed babies. Pregnant women, or women who might soon become pregnant, were discouraged from taking the drug.
Isotretinion later became known as a cause of bowel disease, or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Such diseases can include Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease.
In part due to these acne treatment side effects, Isotretinoin in Accutane has been available in the United States by prescription only. Also, it has had a tendency to be prescribed by physicians only as a last resort, when no other acne treatments or acne medications prove helpful.
But that hasn't stopped Isotretinoin's use in acne treatment medications, including generic Accutane. When Roche's patent for Isotretinoin expired in 2002, rival pharmaceutical companies began producing their own cheaper versions of the product, including such acne treatments as Sotret, Amnesteem and Claravis. These, too, contain Isotretinoin.
Thus, even though Accutane has been removed from the market, harmful Isotretinoin remains in generic Accutane products which continue to be sold to innocent Americans, leading to possibly serious injury.
If you or a loved one has suffered harm in the form of a bowel disease which you believe is related to taking Accutane or generic Accutane as an acne medication, alert an Accutane lawyer or defective drugs attorney with Accutane-Lawsuit-Lawyer.com. Just submit the free case evaluation form on this Web site or call toll-free to 1-800-339-0606, and a legal professional will respond shortly to help you assess your Accutane defective drug case.