ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., June 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On June 29, 2012, a New Jersey jury awarded $9 million each to two people who took the anti-acne drug Accutane and developed bowel disease as a result. Accutane is made by Hoffmann-La Roche, and in some individuals, the drug causes inflammatory bowel disease. The judge was the Hon. Carol E. Higbee, presiding civil judge in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Atlantic City. This was the eighth Accutane case to go to trial in the United States, and Levin Papantonio attorneys have played key roles in every trial. To date, plaintiffs have won over $78 million in verdicts against Roche.
The clients were represented by LP Accutane attorneys Troy Rafferty and Bill Cash, along with David Buchanan of Seeger Weiss LLP (Newark, N.J.) and Peter Samberg of Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. (New York). The trial lasted almost two months. The jury turned back the claims of two other clients, finding that although Roche failed to warn their prescribing physicians of the dangers of Accutane, they would have been prescribed and taken Accutane anyway. Levin Papantonio will represent these clients on appeal.
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