The Horrors and Life-long Side Effects from the Acne Drug, Accutane, and a Potential Cure

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http://www.billsardi.com/reports/accutane_report.pdf

 

 

 

Special News Report

by Bill Sardi | Knowledge of Health, Inc.

 

An ongoing human horror story has been hidden from view.....as tragic as the use

of thalidomide in the early 1960s............ hundreds of babies aborted or born

with appalling malformations and untold numbers more suffering with chronic side

effects from a synthetic vitamin used to treat acne (Accutane). Health

journalist Bill Sardi teams with accutane victim Matthew Hamilton in South

Africa to reveal the story and some nutritional remedies.

 

THALIDOMIDE II: THE HORRORS AND LIFE-LONG SIDE EFFECTS FROM THE ACNE DRUG

ACCUTANE, AND A POTENTIAL CURE now available at www.askbillsardi.com.

 

1 | Accutane: A Modern Horror Story Copyright Bill Sardi August 2003

www.askbillsardi.com

 

Special Report

 

Thalidomide II: The Horrors and

 

Life-long Side Effects from the Acne

 

Drug, Accutane, and a Potential Cure

 

By Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc., San Dimas, California USA

 

With Matthew Hamilton, special correspondent, Cape Town, South Africa

 

Copyright Bill Sardi 2003

 

Summary

 

• An ongoing human horror story, ranging

 

from birth defects and suicide to life-long side

 

effects, surrounds Accutane, the vitamin A

 

drug used to treat acne.

 

• The medical community and

 

a drug company are in a state

 

of denial regarding side effects

 

caused by Accutane.

 

• Nutritional supplements

 

should be taken during Accutane

 

therapy to ward off potential side effects.

 

Dietary supplements may also remedy chronic

 

side effects experienced by former Accutane

 

users.

 

• Urgency is required to search for safer

 

alternatives than Accutane for the treatment

 

of acne.

 

Part I - The Report

 

Thalidomide baby

 

Organized medicine is hiding a horror story. It’s the

 

horrific pictures of deformed and aborted babies,

 

malformations that could have been avoided if proper

 

precautions had been taken by health authorities sooner.

 

Remember the pictures of the deformed thalidomide

 

babies? (See photo above) Thalidomide, an anti-nausea

 

drug, was prescribed in the late 1950s and early 1960s

 

and caused approximately 10,000 babies to be born with

 

birth defects. There is another drug, in current use, that

 

is Thalidomide Jr. All it would take to ban the anti-acne

 

drug Accutane is to show the world the photos of the

 

babies born with physical defects, or the spontaneously

 

aborted babies after their mother has been prescribed

 

the synthetic vitamin A drug that is frequently used

 

to treat pimples. Photos of the deformed Accutane

 

Horrific: appalling, awful, dreadful, formidable,

 

frightful, horrible, shocking, terrible.

 

-Miriam-Webster Dictionary

 

2 | Accutane: A Modern Horror Story Copyright Bill Sardi August 2003

www.askbillsardi.com

 

babies remain unviewed by the public at large. Reports

 

indicate at least 200-300 infants have been victims of

 

Accutane. Some sources say far more babies than this

 

have been born with defects due to Accutane.

 

Quote from a 40-year old nurse

 

who took Accutane and became

 

pregnant and aborted her baby:

 

" My skin glows when I’m using it.

 

I would die if they took it off the

 

market. " -Boston Globe Magazine

 

April 27, 2003

 

The number of Accutane prescriptions for women in the

 

reproductive years has more than doubled in the past 10

 

years. It is the most widely used drug that causes birth

 

defects. About 2.5 per 1000 women were exposed to

 

Accutane in 1999 in the USA. Since then the Food &

 

Drug Administration has mandated severe restrictions

 

on the way the drug is dispensed. Fertile females who

 

take Accutane pills must now undergo two successive

 

negative pregnancy tests before embarking on a course

 

of therapy, and they must employ two different forms

 

of birth control. Even with these restrictions, babies

 

are being born with defects. Women fudge on their

 

commitment to use birth control. Some women take

 

no protective measures saying they are abstinent. In

 

a nation where half of all pregnancies are unplanned,

 

and with two less costly new brands on the market now

 

that the patent for Accutane has expired, the number

 

of women currently on vitamin A drugs for a typical

 

five-month course is likely to jump above the current

 

150,000 figure, and so will the number of babies

 

born with birth defects. A survey of 14 women who

 

had Accutane-exposed pregnancies found one birth

 

with multiple defects, 4 spontaneous abortions and 5

 

induced abortions. [Teratology 64: 142-47, 2001]

 

Dr. Jane Adams, a behavioral psychologist at the Slone

 

Epidemiological Center at Boston University, found

 

that 47 percent of 5-year old Accutane children have a

 

less than average IQ and 19 percent are in the mentally

 

retarded range. [boston Globe Magazine April 27,

 

2003]

 

Common birth

 

defects produced by

 

thalidomide

 

Common birth

 

defects produced

 

by retinoic acid

 

(Accutane)

 

Missing or malformed

 

limbs (bilateral)

 

Malformations of the

 

face

 

No ears or deafness No ears

 

Cleft palate Cleft palate

 

Missing or extra fingers

 

or toes

 

Improper formation of

 

the heart, kidneys and

 

other internal organs

 

Partial or total loss of

 

sight

 

Small jaw

 

Improper formation of

 

the heart, kidney and

 

other internal organs

 

Low intelligence

 

and psychological

 

impairment

 

Improper formation

 

of the anus and/or

 

genitalia

 

Flattening of the bridge

 

of the nose

 

Enter Matthew Hamilton

 

Even if the number of deformed Accutane babies is

 

reduced to zero, the horror story doesn’t stop there.

 

Matthew Hamilton’s story is a case in point. At the

 

age of 15, and with a mild case of acne at best, his

 

dermatologist in Cape Town, South Africa, prescribed

 

Accutane (Roaccutane outside the USA). Matthew only

 

experienced the common symptoms of dry skin and

 

chapped lips while taking the medication. Otherwise,

 

things were uneventful. Then four months after

 

finishing treatment, Matthew had a suicidal episode, a

 

latent side effect of the drug produced by shutting off

 

the production of serotonin, a mood-controlling brain

 

chemical.

 

A year later, Matthew was still struggling with suicidal

 

attacks for no apparent reason. Around this time his

 

hair began to fall out and his scalp became itchy.

 

Backaches and " clicking " sounds in all of his joints

 

appeared. Instead of graduating as the top student in

 

his high school, as anticipated by his previous school

 

record, Matthew was struggling with the side effects

 

of Accutane. Muscle weakness ensued. Then hair loss

 

spread to his eyebrows, eyelashes, and other body hair.

 

His eyes were always dry and floaters, what appear as

 

3 | Accutane: A Modern Horror Story Copyright Bill Sardi August 2003

www.askbillsardi.com

 

cobwebs or black globs in the visual field, appeared.

 

Nightmares and bouts of depression were common.

 

Matthew began his own investigation. While literature

 

provided by Roche, the manufacturer of Accutane,

 

states that side effects magically go away after ceasing

 

use of the drug, he began to make contact with people

 

who had taken the drug when it first became available

 

in 1982 and were still suffering with side effects 21

 

years later.

 

Between 1982 and 2000 the Food & Drug Administration

 

received reports of 37 patients treated with Accutane

 

that committed suicide, 110 were hospitalized for

 

depression or suicide attempts, 284 other cases of

 

depression, for a total of 431 adverse reaction reports.

 

[J Am Academy Dermatology 45: 515-19, 2001] A US

 

Congressman’s son, Bart Stupak Jr, age 17, committed

 

suicide following use of Accutane. According to a

 

report in USA Today, the FDA has received reports

 

of 66 suicides and 1373 cases of psychiatric problems

 

related to Accutane.

 

Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak, whose son

 

committed suicide after taking Accutane, gives

 

advice to parents who are considering Accutane

 

for their children with acne: " Don’t do it.

 

It’s not worth the consequences. What is

 

the benefit you’re receiving? Clean skin.

 

But, you may have a child who is forever

 

scarred mentally, physically. ……There

 

are eighteen different warnings with this

 

drug. Read them. And if you still think it’s

 

worth it, that’s your decision. It’s just not

 

worth it. "

 

Another Accutane suicide came to the public’s attention

 

when 15-year old Charles Bishop flew a single-engine

 

Cessna into the 28th floor of a Bank of America building

 

in Tampa, Florida on January 5, 2002. Bishop had used

 

Accutane. His mother has filed a $70 million wrongful

 

death suite against Roche, the drug’s manufacturer.

 

" This child was a happy, well-balanced,

 

forward-thinking child who had a great

 

deal to live for. This was psychotic and

 

the only conclusion we have been able

 

to draw is the Accutane poisoned him. "

 

--Julie Bishop, mother of Charles Bishop who

 

flew a plane into a building and committed

 

suicide.

 

Fifteen-year old Charles Bishop flew a suicidal

 

mission into an office building in Tampa, Florida.

 

Bishop had been taking Accutane.

 

Michael Fumento, a noted columnist on health issues,

 

came to the defense of Accutane, stating there had

 

been a history of suicide attempts in Bishop’s family.

 

Fumento reports that Accutane users have a rate of

 

suicide of about 1.8 per 100,000 compared to about 11.1

 

per 100,000 in the general population. There have been

 

about 90,000 US suicides since Accutane was approved

 

in 1982, with only 170 of them linked to Accutane

 

among 5 million users. Fumento mistakenly claims that

 

nobody has found any kind of biological plausibility

 

for how the drug might even cause depression. The

 

active ingredient in Accutane (isotretinoin) is a Vitamin

 

A derivative and overdoses of Vitamin A can be toxic.

 

But there is no evidence that hypervitaminosis A can

 

cause psychiatric reactions, says Fumento. [National

 

Review Online, May 9, 2002]

 

But it has been recently documented that retinoic

 

acid (vitamin A) raises the production of monoamine

 

oxidase. [Cell Biochem Funct. 20:87-94, 2002] Drugs

 

that inhibit monoamine oxidase are used to raise levels

 

of nerve-transmitting chemicals such as dopamine,

 

 

 

To continue below.

 

http://www.billsardi.com/reports/accutane_report.pdf