- TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- The
mother of a teen-age boy who flew a Cessna aircraft into a Tampa office
building filed a $70 million wrongful death and negligence lawsuit Tuesday
against the manufacturers of a drug the boy took to treat acne.
-
- Attorneys for Julia Bishop charge that Accutane,
manufactured
by Roche/Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., had severe psychiatric side effects on
15-year-old Charles Bishop. Bishop flew a single-engine plane into the
42-story Bank of America Plaza building in downtown Tampa on January 5,
killing himself instantly. No one else was injured.
-
- The boy had a prescription for Accutane, but
investigators
did not believe he had any of the drug in his system at the time of the
crash.
-
- Representatives from the pharmaceutical giant did not
immediately respond to a request for a comment.
-
- Accutane has come under scrutiny of the Food and Drug
Administration largely due to its links to birth defects.
-
- The prescription can be given only in one-month
intervals,
and someone under 18 must have a parent or legal guardian sign a consent
form after reading lengthy explanations about potential side
effects.
-
- Julia Bishop's lawsuit contends that Accutane is an
unsafe
drug and that Roche/Hoffmann-La Roche failed to adequately warn the public
of a potential link to depression and suicide.
-
- After the crash, police found a note in Charles' pocket
expressing support for Osama bin Laden and the September 11 attacks, an
opinion that family and friends said he had not expressed
previously.
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