Ulcerative Colitis - Side Effect Information
Accutane has been linked to several chronic conditions involving damage to the gastrointestinal tract, including ulcerative colitis. A form of inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammation of the digestive tract accompanied by ulcers on the lining of the large intestine and rectum. Some Accutane users report an immediate onset of symptoms, while others developed ulcerative colitis months or years after Accutane treatment was stopped. Treatment is available for the condition, though there is no known cure.
Ulcerative Colitis Litigation
To date, there have been close to 5,000 personal injury claims against Roche Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Accutane, concerning Accutane’s ability to cause permanent and debilitating gastrointestinal problems including ulcerative colitis.
In April 2008, a New Jersey woman received $10.5 million from a case against Roche, citing that the company failed to warn of the risk of dangerous and chronic conditions. After starting Accutane treatment, the woman developed ulcerative colitis at age 14 and later had to have her colon removed. She now faces chronic and debilitating diarrhea.
In February 2010, a computer technician from Birmingham, Alabama, received $25.16 million in settlement damages from Roche. The 38-year-old man began taking Accutane for his acne in 1995 and soon developed inflammatory bowel disease, requiring five surgeries and a removal of his colon. The jury found that Roche failed to warn users of the risk of bowel disease associated with the medication.
Complications Associated with Ulcerative Colitis
Severe forms of ulcerative colitis can lead to shock, severe bleeding (hemorrhage), colon rupture, and even death if the condition spreads to the entire colon. Repeated attacks of inflammation may lead to a thickening of the wall of the intestine and rectum with scar tissue. Chronic and severe diarrhea may be experienced in many patients with ulcerative colitis, and attacks are often debilitating and very painful.
Most advanced forms of ulcerative colitis require extended hospitalization and expensive surgeries, including a colectomy, or the removal of the entire colon and the rectum. Afterward, patients may need an ileoostomy, or a procedure that creates a surgical opening on the abdomen wall to allow the bowels to empty into an external bag, called an ostomy pouch, to collect intestinal waste.
Symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis
Early symptoms of ulcerative colitis include:
- Abdominal pain
- Abdominal sounds (gurgling or splashing in the intestinal area)
- Feeling of urgency or an inability to move the bowels despite an urge to do so
- Fever
- Rectal bleeding
- Rectal pain
- Severe diarrhea that may be bloody or filled with mucus
- Stomach cramping on the left side of the body
- Unintended weight loss
- Vomiting
