Medicine: maker ignored pleas for depression labelling on Accutane

Part of the reason I wanted to go to med school was so someday I could walk up to my dermatologist and tell him he was a bad, evil person who should have his medical degree ripped off the wall and shoved in his mouth until he choked to death.

Which is probably understandable, after five months of Accutane and five months of crying myself to sleep until at least 3:00 AM and after losing forty pounds over the course of five months as a result of zero exercise (read: damn, THAT sounds unhealthy) and after enduring his bullshit about how I was just a teenager and I'd "get over it."

Well, things got better after the Accutane. But I've never been the same since. Which is why I have to agree when FDA researcher David Graham says that Accutane is one of five drugs on the market today that needs some serious investigation. Now, I knew tons of kids on Accutane who never shed a tear. Some dry skin maybe, at worst.

As for me, I think any doctor who would prescribe this stuff and not issue a psych referral (or at least SOME sort of regular depression screening) as well is a quack, or at least an asshole. Which would be just about every dermatologist in the country. Surprise!