Appellate Court Reverses Decision in Accutane Side Effects Case

Atlantic City, NJAn appellate court in New Jersey recently reversed a $10.5 million verdict against a drugmaker in a case regarding Accutane side effects.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">In 2008, a jury awarded Kamie Kendall $10.5 million after she alleged that Accutane caused her inflammatory bowel disease, according to Bloomberg. However, an appellate court reversed the decision against the maker of the acne drug, Roche, saying that the original judge improperly barred the company from presenting evidence about the medication's use.

"Roche was unduly impeded at this trial from adducing and advocating numerical proofs that could have potentially and reasonably led a jury to reach a different verdict," the appeals court said.

Around 13 million people have taken Accutane since its introduction in 1982. Roche lost the patent for the drug in 2002 and continued to sell it alongside its generic offerings. In 2009, however, the drugmaker pulled it from the market.

Roche has lost all seven of the cases regarding Accutane that have been decided by juries since 2007. According to the news source, juries have awarded at least $45 million in damages to the drug's users in those cases.

In addition to inflammatory bowel disease, Accutane has been linked to birth defects and depression.