Jury Slaps Accutane Drug Maker with 2 Million Dollar Verdict This is breaking news about Accutane lawsuits. A patient who used the flawed zits drug Accutane and contracted inflammatory bowel disease has had won a two million dollar jury award.
This case received national media interest because a plaintiff, James Marshall, had been a high profile actor. Marshall portrayed the character of a Marine charged with homicide in the motion picture "A Few Good Men". He also starred in the hit TV show "Twin Peaks". After making use of Accutane for his zits, Marshall had to have a portion of his colon removed in an urgent surgery. That effectively ended his acting career.
Several celebrities testified in his trial, including actor Martin Sheen and director Rob Reiner. Both of them testified about the effects the disease had on Marshall. Sheen testified that, “He was extremely thin. There was a marked difference in his personality. He was not as gregarious or fun-loving or as social as I remember him."
This most recent Accutane lawsuit included three plaintiffs who had used Accutane and contracted inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It's not at all unusual for a judge to combine a few similar lawsuits into one litigation. The jury makes independent awards for each plaintiff according to their injuries and situations.
The jury concluded that the defendant, Hoffman La Roche, was accountable in all three scenarios. The jury granted damages of $2 million to one of the persons who developed inflammatory bowel disease after taking Accutane. The jury did not award damages to the other injured parties although they concluded that Roche had violated its legal responsibilities.
Roche has made billions from this flawed drug that has caused untold anguish for individuals from Accutane side-effects. Roche voluntarily removed the medicine from the market in 2009, possibly in a urgent gamble to avoid increased cases.
Over 15 million patients worldwide used Accutane and its generic versions. The active ingredient in Accutane -- isotretinoin -- was previously put into use as a chemotherapy pharmaceutical. It's unfortunate that Roche would market a drug that's highly effective at destroying human cellular material as a medication for teenage zits.
Thousands of Accutane cases have now been filed against Roche. Until now, every one of the cases which have gone to litigation included people who had inflammatory bowel disease and took Accutane. Roche was found responsible in all these lawsuits, and most of them ended in multi-million dollar verdicts against the enterprise.
The results in this court case represent a clear victory for Accutane victims. While Roche may try to claim it triumphed in two of the lawsuits, the facts are that it lost all three because the jury determined it distributed a faulty medicine. The facts and damages in each individual lawsuit are different, so not all plaintiffs should expect to receive any specific recovery.
Roche has lost every single Accutane case so far in regards to being legally at fault. However, it continues to endeavor to refuse justice for the folks it injured. Fortuitously, this juries see otherwise.
Nevertheless Roche continues to combat these battles, pursuing Accutane matters to litigation and appealing its losses. When will this meds selling giant take liability for its actions?
Find Help For Accutane Inflammatory Bowel DiseaseRoche did not warn persons of the connection between Accutane and inflammatory bowel condition (IBD). There are two key forms of this condition: Crohn's Disease (also called Crohns Disease) and ulcerative colitis. These can be long term, disabling conditions.
An Accutane lawsuit is a way which damaged patients can recover for their Accutane side effects.
An Accutane Lawyer Can Assist You With Your Accutane Claim