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Roche Loses $12.9 Million Three-Case Accutane
Verdict
By David Voreacos
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Roche Holding AG must pay $12.9
million to plaintiffs who blamed the Accutane acne medicine
for their inflammatory bowel disease, a New Jersey jury
ruled, handing the company its fourth trial loss in
the case.
Roche didn't give proper warnings to doctors for three
Florida residents about the risks of Accutane, which
was a substantial factor in their illness, a state court
jury found yesterday in Atlantic City. The judge combined
three lawsuits into one trial. With three earlier losses
for individuals, Roche has now lost jury verdicts involving
six plaintiffs.
"The message from the jury was that Accutane causes
inflammatory bowel disease and Roche improperly warned
physicians,'' Stephen Bolton, a plaintiffs' lawyer,
said in an interview. " This verdict should send
a strong message to Roche to seriously consider the
allegations in these lawsuits.''
Roche, based in Basel, Switzerland, faces about 550
suits over Accutane, according to Bolton.
The company is disappointed in the verdict after a five-week
trial and disagrees with the finding that Accutane causes
inflammatory bowel disease, said Shelley Rosenstock,
a company spokeswoman.
``The Accutane labeling has contained a warning about
IBD for more than 20 years,'' Rosenstock said in a statement.
``Nevertheless, there is no reliable evidence that Accutane
actually causes IBD.''
Compensatory Damages
Jordan Speisman, 27, won compensatory damages of $8.5
million and medical expenses of $142,500; Lance Sager,
28, damages of $2.5 million and medical costs of $125,000;
and Kelly Mace, 25, damages of $1.5 million and medical
expenses of $128,000, Rosenstock said in an interview.
Plaintiffs' attorney David Buchanan said Roche is ``not
interested in discussing settlement'' of the remaining
cases.
The verdict yesterday means ``the company should accept
responsibility for the injuries they've caused to patients
on this drug and the absence of a proper warning,''
he said. Roche ``should be well past denying that Accutane
causes inflammatory bowel disease or that it failed
to provide an adequate warning.''
About 13 million people have taken Accutane since it
went on the market in 1982. The medication was Roche's
second-biggest selling drug before the patent expired
in 2002 and rivals started selling generic versions.
Along with bowel disease, Accutane has been linked to
birth defects and depression.
Accutane is made by Roche's unit Hoffmann-LaRoche Inc.
of Nutley, New Jersey.
The cases are Mace v. Hoffmann LaRoche Inc., Speisman
v. Hoffmann LaRoche Inc. and Sager v. Hoffmann LaRoche
Inc., New Jersey Superior Court, Atlantic County (Atlantic
City).
To contact the reporter on this story: David Voreacos
in Newark, New Jersey, at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net.
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