I'm sure a few sips of arsenic soup can tackle a migraine and I know the sudden stop of a 20 story jump will definitely put an end to asthma. Yes, sure those solutions technically work but no one in their right mind would ever consider any such extreme for themselves or someone they love. No one would ever consider most any extreme for themselves but in this case there are those who have no problem considering extremes for you especially when there is a dollar attached to it. Or should I say 1.3 billion of them!
You think I'm kidding? The picture above is an angel whose delicate self esteem fought big corporation bonuses and lost. In 1999, Vivian Crane was twelve when first prescribed Accutane. Vivian's parents noticed the change to her personality almost immediately, but were not worried when the six month dosage ended. Her skin showed drastic improvement and her mood changed back to normal, but in September 1999 Vivian's acne returned and she began taking Accutane for the second time. Soon thereafter, she became moody with bouts of rage and began distancing herself from her family, even making disturbing statements to family members such as "I've lost the ability to love you. It was after this point that Vivian fell into a deep depression. In February 2000, she was taken off Accutane and prescribed Zoloft. By mid June, Vivian wrote several emails to friends about her depression. Then a few hours after her last email, Vivian exited this world by putting a rope around her neck. Vivian was fourteen years old.
So take a second and reverse engineer this and see where things went wrong. Let's start with a teenager checklist.
First of course is - Sex (where, when and will I catch anything?) Quickly followed by - Friends (Do I have enough, Am I popular, why didn't so-and-so say hi to me in the hall?) And always the dreaded - Parents (why are they so strict, why do they always embarrass me, will they know if I have sex?) Then throw choices about alcohol, are my F-CAT scores high enough, I hate my math teacher, why can't my parents buy me a sports car like Jennie's did, mom and dad are always arguing, dad just lost his job, are they going to let me go to the party Saturday night, will Cathy say yes if I ask her to the party, why aren't my breasts bigger and thighs smaller, why do I have so much hair here and not enough there, I need a part time job, Rick smokes pot and he's seems ok, coach said I have to lose ten pounds, how come Tammy got a new Prada bag, I don't know what I want to be but everyone's telling me what I should be, college is expensive, oil leaks in the Gulf, nuclear war, bad economy, bad hair day, and is texting really that bad when you drive?
Now take this small list, multiply it by 1000, toss in the fact that an accountant with a masters degree and 20 years of experience took your job at K-Mart, you're a social outcast for not updating Facebook in the last 7 minutes, Cyber Bullying, health care, deforestation, raging hormones and massive amounts of homework, and you have a tiny glimpse into the highly stressful and delicate mind of today's teenager. Now I ask you...does it take a genius to understand that it's probably not a good idea to introduce a drug, KNOWN TO CAUSE SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, into the fragile system of today's young mind? Come on! Why would anyone with a conscience consider that? Oh yes, how could I forget, 1.3 billion. That astronomical number is the amount of dollars La Roche Pharmaceuticals makes annually from Accutane!
Accutane went on the market in 1982 and quickly became one of its biggest earners. At first, everyone was thinking WOW, the wonder drug - saving one teenager at a time from the vicious high school practice of anti-pimple social shunning. However, this drug is basically toxic levels of synthetic vitamin A that inhibits oil gland production. I can just picture all the skin blemished teenagers dancing in glee (No! not that Glee... it was a synonym for happiness before it was a show!) and even all the stressed out parents who worried they wouldn't have grand-kids if their child had a bad case of acne, they were so enthralled that they easily overlooked the warning labels. Oh, that's right you can't read about all the cases of weak skin, alopecia, depression, suicidal tendencies, back pain, joint pain, dry mucus membranes, pink eye, dry eyes, vision problems, ringing in the ear, psychosis, liver damage, anaphylaxis, erectile dysfunction, aggressive behavior, bone loss, heart attack, stroke, seizures, lowered white blood cell count and allergic vasculitis when there is no Warning Label! That's right... it took case after case of these side effects to finally get the FDA to force La Roche Pharmaceuticals to add a warning label to the drug! And did I forget the worst (for teens) side effect... inflammatory bowel disease! Yes, if you thought that Stacy's miniskirt combined with too much testosterone made it difficult to head to the front of the class and write out your algebra try adding inflammatory bowel disease and see where you quickly fall on the social scale!
Finally, in 2009, Hoffman La Roche discontinued the manufacture of Accutane but what about the 13 million who were prescribed the drug? With all the attention it's getting now is the time to talk to a qualified attorney to find out how you or a loved one that's experienced serious side effects or health complications with Accutane can see if you may be compensated for what you rightly deserve.
With over 100 years of collective experience, the firm of Thomas & Pearl has successfully protected the rights of individuals from corporations and insurance companies. From Fort Lauderdale's humble beginnings in 1973, Thomas & Pearl's legal expertise and reputation grew across Florida to cover everything from Workers Compensation to Auto Accidents, Personal Injury to Labor Law.
