Accutane blamed for teenage suicide, in $70 million lawsuit

Following on the story above, Hoffman-La Roche's anti-acne drug Accutanehas found itself at the center of another lawsuit. The family of 15-year-old Charles Bishop, who died January 5 when he crashed a stolen plane into a Tampa, Florida, high-rise building, is suing the drugmaker for $70 million, alleging that the medicine initiated his actions. The family also demands that the drug be removed from the market.

Depression has been listed on the drug's label as a possible side effect since 1985 and, in 1998, the US Food and Drug Administration said that suicide was also possible. A Roche spokeswoman, however, said the company was unaware of the lawsuit and maintained that the drug is safe. "We continue, as do the experts, to believe there is no link," she said. According to the FDA, 147 people taking Accutane either committed suicide or were hospitalized for suicide attempts between 1982 and 2000.