Accutane Liver  

One of the many side effects accutane possesses is the damage to the liver. Therefore, your dermatologist continuously monitors your liver while you are under accutane treatment and if he finds that your liver is suffering by the use of accutane, he asks you to discontinue accutane.

Some accutane users have been reported to have developed clinical hepatitis as well as elevated levels of liver enzymes which are signs of liver damage.

Many doctors say that simply discontinuing accutane treatment does not necessarily correct this problem. They suggest that whatever damage liver suffers by the use of accutane may be permanent.

Due to quite a big number of evidences of liver damage in accutane users, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required Hoffman La Roche, the manufacturer of accutane, to include the following in the Accutane warning labels:

�Clinical hepatitis considered to be possibly or probably related to Accutane therapy has been reported. Additionally, mild to moderate elevations of liver enzymes have been observed in approximately 15% of individuals treated during clinical trials, some of which normalized with dosage reduction or [normalized while continuing to take the drug.�

The side effects associated with accutane are so serious that FDA has recently ordered to include a Medguide explaining all side effects with the sale of every dose of accutane. There are only two other drugs that are required to sell with a Medguide by FDA.

An excerpt from the FDA Medguide is in the following with regard to the liver damage by accutane:

�Symptoms [of Accutane usage] may mean that your internal organs are being damaged. These organs include the liver, pancreas, bowel (intestines), and esophagus (connection between mouth and stomach). If your organs are damaged, they may not get better even after you stop taking Accutane.�