McCarrell v. Roche (Accutane)

Description

Andrew McCarrell sued Hoffman-LaRoche and Roche Laboratories, which manufactured and distributed the prescription drug Accutane. McCarrell alleged that as a result of taking Accutane for an acne condition, he developed inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which led to the surgical removal of his colon. The jury returned a $2.6M verdict.

View the original trial McCarrell v. Hoffman LaRoche Also available: the October 2008 trial, In re: Accutane.

The Superior Court's appellate division ruled that the defendants in the McCarrell trial should have been allowed to present the background statistics showing that there were five million Accutane users.

"With all due deference to the trial judge, whose overall studious and even-handed management of this complex case was exemplary, she erred in forbidding Roche from placing into evidence statistics about Accutane usage that could have made Roche's conduct and labeling decisions appear far more reasonable to the jury. For instance, the "five million users" statistic proffered by Dr. Huber could have given the jurors very relevant contextual background, and possibly led the jury to be more indulgent of Roche's delay in upgrading the risk information on Accutane's label and package insert."

Openings in the retrial were January 13, 2010. Request FREE VIDEO CLIPS of Opening Argument. On February 16, 2010, the jury returned a $25M verdict in favor of the plaintiff.

For more Accutane litigation, see the CVN Blog.