Accutane News

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) _ A jury Thursday awarded $7 million to a man who said he had his colon removed after suffering from a disease caused by the acne drug Accutane.

After two days of deliberating, the jury found Accutane's maker, Hoffman-La Roche Inc., responsible for failing to warn Adam Mason, 31, that he could develop inflammatory bowel disease. Mason told the Pensacola News Journal since his surgery, he has not been able to return to work as a welder.

"It's been a long road," he said. "Seven years I've waited for this day, and I finally got justice.

Hoffman-La Roche Inc., based in Nutley, N.J., is the United States prescription drug unit of the Swiss drug maker Roche Group.

A telephone message left after hours at the company was not immediately returned.

In May, a jury in New Jersey awarded a man $2.6 million for a similar case. After that verdict, Roche released a statement saying it had significant grounds for appeal and planned to pursue them.

"The cause of inflammatory bowel disease remains unknown and there is no reliable scientific evidence that Accutane causes inflammatory bowel disease," the statement said.

Accutane's links to suicidal behavior and birth defects are much better known inflammatory bowel disease. The detailed instructions in the package include a lengthy, bold-faced warning about psychiatric disorders and begin with the words "Causes birth defects" and "Do not get pregnant" with an illustration of a pregnant woman and a circle with a slash through it.

A brief, plain-type warning states Accutane has been associated with inflammatory bowel disease.