In Atlantic County, the trial bar hits the jackpot, and consumers pay - again

Atlantic County added another case to its “Judicial Hellhole” resume yesterday, by awarding $25 million in compensatory damages to an Alabama man who claimed Accutane caused his inflammatory bowel syndrome.  Yesterday’s verdict in state Superior Court in Atlantic County was a retrial of a 2007 verdict, in which the defendant was awarded $2.6 million in damages. 

It took the jury just 3 ½ hours to decide that the plaintiff deserved the award.  By comparison, they found that his medical expenses warranted an award of $159,000.

The plaintiff’s lawyers argued that New Jersey-based Roche, which manufactured Accutane, failed to provide an adequate warning about the acne medication’s potential side effects.  By not listing “inflammatory bowel disease” on the warning label, they claimed that Roche violated New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. 

Accutane was introduced in 1982 and is credited with helping millions of people who suffer from severe acne. 

A $25 million warning label is a hefty pricetag for Accutane’s consumers to bear.  Unfortunately for consumers, though, the trial bar was able to claim an additional victory; faced with the threat of an additional 1,000 lawsuits with similar claims and the high cost of defending personal injury lawsuits, Roche discontinued Accutane in June 2009. 

Thanks to weaknesses in New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, an Alabama resident’s litigation was able to help drive a popular medication from the marketplace.