Accutane Lawsuits Continue to Pile Up

New Accutane lawsuits are continuing to pour into a mass tort in New Jersey state court, as more and more plaintiffs file claims alleging that the acne drug caused them to develop inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). 

Well over 400 lawsuits over Accutane have been filed in just the past two months according to the most recent case list provided by the New Jersey courts. The influx of cases brings the total number of New Jersey state court lawsuits over the acne drug to nearly 1,600. All were filed by plaintiffs who claim that Roche failed to adequately warn users about potential Accutane side effects, including the risk of IBD, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Accutane (isotretinoin) has been used by more than 16 million people worldwide since it was first introduced in the early 1980s as a treatment for severe acne. Although Roche discontinued the drug in the United States in June 2009 due to the cost of litigation, a number of generic versions remain available under a number of names, such as Claravis, Sotret, Amnesteem and generic isotretinoin.

Although Accutane suits against Roche go back as far as 2003, a number of cases have been filed recently following rulings by the state’s high court which affirmed that the Accutane statute of limitations in each case should be based on when plaintiffs discovered there could be a connection between the drug and their bowel disorder. Roche had argued that the statute of limitations should be based on when they placed IBD warnings on the drug’s label. However, many former users never learned about the connection between their bowel problems and Accutane until recent news coverage of Accutane trials and television advertisements by Accutane lawyers.

Roche has lost all six Accutane bowel disease trials that have reached a jury so far, with many resulting in multi-million dollar awards.