What is the current thinking on the use of the acne drug Accutane?
Dermatologists still think it’s an incredibly valuable drug for those who have acne that hasn’t responded to other therapies or who have acne that’s very severe. There are certain side effects and the main issue is that a woman who’s of childbearing age must completely avoid pregnancy while she’s taking it, because if a woman were to become pregnant while taking it, she could give birth to a baby with birth defects. Accutane and depression have been associated, mostly in adolescents, but there’s not a clear-cut relationship. There are adolescents who become depressed about their acne and depression is common in adolescents, so it’s not clear if the depression is due to the Accutane. And when they go off the drug, does their depression lift because it was caused by Accutane or because their acne is better? But depression is something dermatologists are aware of and when I counsel an adolescent, I make them aware that there might be some depression or moodiness, and that they must contac
