Restrictions on Accutane

fusster · Aug 13, 2005

I took accutane 6 or 7 years ago when i was about 14. Even back then they made it very clear that you needed to use at least 2 methods of BC if you are sexually active, and I don't see how the new policy is really any different. Maybe it's been so long since I was on it that I don't remember everything correctly, but the new policy seems to be basically the same as the old, only now you need to be part of a registry and take 2 pregnancy tests before starting taking the med instead of 1. Doesn't seem to me that these few extra steps will really change anything, but I could be wrong.

suzanne4, RN · Aug 13, 2005

These rulings are actually nothing new with the drug.

The dug is extremely dangerous in females who are of child-birth years, simple as that. Unfortunately, there have been children born with severe abnormalities because the women got pregnant whilke taking this medication. Then they went on to sue the company for not telling them.

Thare are many other options out there now that can work as well.

jab3da · Sep 3, 2005

I don't believe there really is a way of enforcing it. I just finished 6 months on accutane. I don't know how it used to be, but I had to sign papers before the treatment started saying that my dermatologist told me of the possible side effects and the necessity of using 2 forms of birth control. Every month she asked if I was using 2 forms and every month I had to take a pregnancy test.

I'm sorry but I have to get on my soap box for a second. My sister's primary care physician wouldn't prescribe accutane to her because she is in her twenties, a female, and "it's something everyone has to go through and grows out of" (according to him). First, I resent the implication that women in their twenties or younger are promiscuous. I also think he needs to get his facts straight. Not everyone has acne and not all grow out of it. My acne only got worse as I got older. And when it's something that affects your self-esteem, why should anyone force you to suffer through it if you don't have to? I understand that before, women either were not warned of the side effects or were careless when on their treatment, but that shouldn't ruin it for everyone else. Don't the papers that I signed, for example, relieve the physician of responsibility for the patient's carelessness?

FYI: Accutane was the best thing that ever happened to me.