Accutane on Trial for Causing Loss of Colon Due to Crohn’s

Accutane is a drug originally developed for cancer treatment but that has been widely used for treatment of acne. Unfortunately, there have been widespread reports of terrible side effects, including bowel diseases including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. It was taken off the market last year.  As an attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, handling civil liability cases including products liability, I have been interested in this topic.

Earlier this month, according to a news article by Laura Clarizio, actor James Marshall was in court for a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturer Roche in which he asserts that Accutane taken for acne caused the loss of his colon.

Personally, I have spent many a long night on cots in hospital rooms attending to a family member suffering horribly with Crohn’s disease. No one who has not seen the effects of this disease can really know how painful and debilitating it can be.

Ken Shigley, is  a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, author of Georgia Law of Torts: Trial Preparation & Practice, and has been listed as a “Super Lawyer” (Atlanta Magazine), among the “Legal Elite” (Georgia Trend Magazine), and in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He practices law at the Atlanta law firm of Chambers, Aholt & Rickard, and has broad experience in catastrophic personal injury, spinal cord injury, wrongful death, products liability,  brain injury and burn injury cases. He is also president-elect of the State Bar of Georgia. This post is subject to our ethical disclaimer.