Accutane (Isotretinoin) and Depression

To this day, isotretinoin (Accutane, Sotret, Amnesteem, Clarivis) remains one of the most successful medicatons available in the fight against more severe acne. Unfortunately, media pressure and a few anecdotal stories have over-exaggerated the risk of depression related to isotretinoin use. As a result, we wanted to provide real evidence in regards to this highly publicized issue. We will periodically post references that can help shed light on the fact that to date, there is no scientific evidence that consistently proves that isotretinoin increases the risk of depression and suicide and the fact that this relationship remains quite uncertain.

A recent Australian article evaluated patients’ perception of depression and its relationship to isotretinoin use and found that the overemphasis of serious psychological adverse events in patients might discourage the use of isotretinoin by those who might benefit from it.

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Add comment December 5th, 2005