Another jury has found the maker of Accutane liable for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in three people, and ordered the drug’s maker to pay the victims nearly $13 million. According to Bloomberg News, a jury in Atlantic City, New Jersey ruled yesterday that Roche AG failed to properly warn of Accutane side effects.

The jury awarded a total of $12.9 million to the three plaintiffs, all of whom were from Florida.  According to Bloomberg, 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.

This is the fourth time Roche has lost an Accutane trial involving IBD.  In April, we reported that another New Jersey jury awarded $10.5 million to a woman who blamed the drug for her ulcerative colitis. In May 2007, another New Jersey trial  resulted in an  award of $2.62 million to a patient who needed to have his colon and most of his rectum removed after taking the drug.  In October that  same year, a Florida jury  awarded $7 million in damages to another Accutane lawsuit plaintiff who developed the IBD.

Since being approved in 1982,  Accutane has been controversial because of its association with various serious side effects. It first garnered attention in the late eighties for causing severe birth defects. It has also been known to cause psychiatric problems, and has been linked to 266 cases of suicide in the United States.  In addition to IBD, Accutane has also been associated with problems of the liver, kidneys, central nervous system, and pancreas, as well as the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and auto-immune systems.  Because of these problems, Accutane has been named in over 500 lawsuits.