Florida Court Nixes $7 Million Acne Drug Award

A three-judge panel has reversed a $7 million judgment against the maker of the acne drug Accutane.

The 1st District Court of Appeal panel ruled in favor of Hoffman-La Roche Inc. and against a Pensacola man who had most of his colon removed due to Crohn’s disease linked to Accutane.

The unanimous opinion said the patient, Adam Mason, failed to prove an allegedly deficient warning label was the proximate cause of his ailment.

Mason had argued warning that Accutane was “temporally associated” with inflammatory bowel disease was too weak.

But his dermatologist testified he would have prescribed the drug even if the warning had been stronger.