DOCUMENT: Crime

Lawsuit: Acne Drug Caused Suicide Plane Crash

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Lawsuit: Acne Drug Caused Suicide Plane Crash

The mother of the teenager who crashed a stolen Cessna into a Tampa building in January is blaming the acne drug Accutane for triggering her son's suicide, according to this $70 million lawsuit filed today (4/16) in Florida's Circuit Court. Julia Bishop contends that "the horrible effect and defective condition of Accutane" caused her son Charles to become "severely psychotic where he lost touch with reality. Instead of being the loyal American child that he was, Charles Bishop thought he was some type of terrorist connected in some way with the Taliban and al-Qaeda and that he had a mission to fulfill." The teenaged honor student left behind a suicide note praising Osama bin Laden and calling the September 11 attacks "absolutely justified." According to Hoffman-La Roche, Accutane's manufacturer, the drug is not dangerous, though it does come with a warning that adverse psychiatric reactions could include "suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, suicide." (8 pages)