An acne medicine cited in an Auckland coroner's case is now at the heart of a US$70 million ($158 million) lawsuit by the family of a Florida teenager who flew a stolen plane into a Tampa office tower.
Charles Bishop's family have filed a wrongful deathlawsuit against drug-maker Hoffman-La Roche, alleging that the company's Accutane drug caused the youth to commit suicide.
Bishop, 15, crashed the single-engine Cessna into the 28th floor of the 42-storey Bank of America building on January 5 in an incident that echoed the September 11 assaults on New York and Washington.
He left a note expressing sympathy for Islamic militant Osama bin Laden.
In Auckland, the family of a 19-year-old university student claim the same drug, isotretinoin capsules, sold here as Roaccutane and Oratane, contributed to the mental state of Hugo Wilkinson when he committed suicide in June 2000.
The family want the Health Ministry to ban the drug, or at least strengthen warnings about possible side-effects.
Auckland Coroner Sarn Herdson has reserved her decision after a hearing this week.
The acne drug is used by 5000 New Zealanders.
Pharmaceutical company Roche, which developed isotretinoin, says no link has been established to psychiatric events.
New Zealand spokesman Stuart Knight said he could not comment on links between the Bishop and Wilkinson cases because of the reserved coroner's findings.
The American lawsuit claims Hoffman-La Roche negligently made an unsafe product that can cause psychosis, depression and suicide, and did not warn patients about side-effects.
A coroner's report said Charles Bishop had no alcohol or drugs in his system when he died. Medical examiners tested for Accutane after police found a prescription in Bishop's home, but found no trace of it.
Last Thursday, an Oklahoma jury rejected a woman's US$3 million ($6.8 million) lawsuit claiming that Accutane caused her depression.
