U.S. jury awards $2.5 million in Roche Accutane trial
Tuesday, May 29, 2007ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey - A New Jersey jury found that Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG failed to adequately warn a patient of the bowel disease risks associated with its acne medicine Accutane and awarded him $2.5 million in damages.
The jury, during its third day of deliberations, also found that the
failure to warn was a major contributing cause of his contracting the bowel disease
and awarded the plaintiff an additional $119,000 to cover medical expenses.
The plaintiff, Andrew McCarrell, a 36-year-old computer manager from Alabama, said he had undergone multiple surgeries, including having his colon removed, after taking the drug in 1995. I'm ecstatic," he told reporters. "I hope this means (other plaintiffs) will finally get some justice. They deserve it just as much as I do.
"Hopefully, this will just be the start of getting them some relief," McCarrell said