Ireland's 'Erin Brockovich' Versus the Big Pharma Organized Crime Syndicate

"I did this out of utter anger," Mr Grant said. "Roaccutane was licensed for the treatment of acne in 1982. Soon there were studies showing patients got depression within weeks of starting on it. When I started investigating, I was looking at 20 to 30 published studies linking the drug to depression, psychosis and suicide.'

--Liam Grant

'His story has parallels with that of Erin Brockovich, whose David-and-Goliath battle against a US energy company became the subject of a Hollywood film. But unlike the American legal clerk, Liam Grant is taking on a giant pharmaceutical company.

In 1996, Mr Grant's 19-year-old son, also called Liam, was prescribed Roaccutane, an acne drug. Formerly cheerful and outgoing, he soon became withdrawn and reclusive. Four months after he started taking the drug, he was found hanging from a tree outside Dublin. A jury delivered a verdict of suicide.

Mr Grant has spent more than €1m (£835,000) of his own money pursuing the drug's manufacturer, the Swiss company Roche, and the regulators whom he holds responsible for his son's death. Roche denies it is to blame for any deaths or severe mental health problems.

He has now won a crucial ruling from the European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) should release details of all adverse reactions to the medicines it licenses. It is required to respond by 31 July. If it complies, patients will for the first time have access to Europe-wide details of suspected adverse reactions to all medicines licensed by the EU's drug safety body.'

NOTE:

Vince Boehm coments:
Isotretinoin is marketed under various trade names, most commonly Roaccutane (Hoffman-La Roche; simply Accutane before July 2009), Amnesteem (Mylan), Claravis (Barr), Clarus (PremPharm), Decutan (Actavis), Isotane (Pacific Pharmaceuticals), Izotek (BlauFarma), Oratane (Genepharm Australasia), ISOTRET (Liva Healthcare Ltd.) or Sotret (Ranbaxy), while topical isotretinoin is most commonly marketed under the trade names Isotrex or Isotrexin (Stiefel)

This acne product is tightly controlled in the U.S. and the U.K. because of its many apparent psychiatric and other problems. Several studies have shown a link between isotretinoin and clinical depression. Psychiatrist Dr. Doug Bremner found decreased frontal lobe function on brain imaging in patients treated with Accutane (isotretinoin). Since the 1980s, scientific research has suggested a relationship between isotretinoin administration and the onset of psychological symptoms including depression, suicidal ideation, and psychosis.

Source: Sepp Hasslberger, Health Supreme