Accutane patients now must register
A national registry on Friday began accepting names of Americans who take the anti-acne drug Accutane, part of a federal effort to limit use of the birth- defect-causing drug by pregnant women.
Doctors, wholesalers and pharmacies had until Friday to register with the computerized “iPledge” registry in order to continue prescribing or selling Accutane and any of the three generic versions of the drug, known as isotretinoin. Generic versions are sold as Amnesteem, Claravis or Sotret.
The Food and Drug Administration has tried for more than 20 years to limit the exposure of fetuses to the drug, prescribed to about 100,000 Americans a month. If a woman uses Accutane during pregnancy — or becomes pregnant within a month of taking the drug — her baby runs a significant risk of suffering brain and heart defects or mental retardation. Patients typically take the drug for five to six months.
Source: South Bend Tribune.
There are currently no comments on this thread.