NJ jury awards $25M in damages to Ala. man over side effects of Accutane

NJ jury awards $25M to Ala. man in Accutane suit

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A New Jersey jury has hit the pharmaceutical company that makes Accutane with a $25.16 million judgment in a lawsuit filed by an Alabama man who blamed the drug for his inflammatory bowel disorder.

Thirty-eight-year-old Andrew McCarrell of Moody, Ala., took the acne drug in his 20s. He says Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. failed to adequately warn of its side effects. McCarrell eventually had his colon removed.

The compensatory damages award came Tuesday in a retrial. An appeals court overturned a $2.6 million judgment he won in May 2007.

Hoffmann-La Roche stopped selling the drug in June 2009. It cited generic competition and the cost of defending against lawsuits, which have sought to blame the drug for suicidal behavior and birth defects.

The Nutley, N.J.-based company says it will appeal.