What if Accutane were banned in the USA?

The recent turmoil over Vioxx has emboldened researcher David Graham
to publicly call for the banning of at least 5 other drugs, including
accutane.

http://wcbs880.com/medicine/health_story_322220857.html

I guess this guy never had acne, at least the virtually incurable
kind. Because without accutane, there would be no cure for hundreds of
thousands of people afflicted with the disease. With Vioxx, you can
substitute the safer Celebrex. With accutane, there is no substitute.
It is a powerful AND dangerous drug. But acne is an insidious and
depressing disease, which although not fatal, is like suffering with a
stab to the face with every pimple and scar. Next time somebody tries
to trivialize the disease, let him look at the face of a man or woman
with ice-pick scars. Only the cold-hearted would not be brought to
tears. Keep accutane on the market. It is the only hope for many
sufferers.

I read about this mini-hysteria earlier on various news web sites.

My derm will be putting me back on a continuous, low dose maintainance
course of Accutane (about 10mg a day). I used this regime before (for
nearly 3 years), and it's the only thing that works for me.

But today's news does make me wonder if the drug will be around for me
to stay on this course for very long. I doubt very much that Accutane
will be banned. However, there's some small chance it might be, or at
least limited in some way that makes it hard for me to use it in a
maintenance regime.

So I was thinking I might want to buy several years worth of the stuff
ahead of time. I haven't used the stuff in 4 years, so I don't remember
how long the drug keeps. But I assume the following:

- The stuff keeps for several years
- I buy Claravis rather than Accutane (Claravis is cheaper)
- I buy 20mg pills (Claravis doesn't seem to come in 10mg pills)
- I buy two years worth of 90 day batches from Walgreens (and I assume
they would sell two years worth, but maybe they won't).

Because Claravis's lowest dosage is 20mg, I would take one pill every
other day rather than 10mg/day.

Using these assumptions, a two year supply would cost me about $2189
(US dollars):

4 (the number of 90-pill batches I would need for 2 years) * $547.29
(the price of a 90-pill batch) = $2189.

I could save even more money if I buy 40mg pills and take one every 4
days:

2 (the number of 90-pill batches I would need for 2 years) * $588.49
(the price of a 90-pill batch) = $1176.98

Of course, this further assumes that 20mg every other day or 40mg every
4th day is as effective as 10mg/day.

If my supply gets cut off by over-zealous regulators, the only option
is to get a supply from outside the US (or move to some country where
the drug is still legal).


Abe M. wrote:
> The recent turmoil over Vioxx has emboldened researcher David Graham
> to publicly call for the banning of at least 5 other drugs, including
> accutane.
>
> http://wcbs880.com/medicine/health_story_322220857.html
>
> I guess this guy never had acne, at least the virtually incurable
> kind. Because without accutane, there would be no cure for hundreds
of
> thousands of people afflicted with the disease. With Vioxx, you can
> substitute the safer Celebrex. With accutane, there is no substitute.
> It is a powerful AND dangerous drug. But acne is an insidious and
> depressing disease, which although not fatal, is like suffering with
a
> stab to the face with every pimple and scar. Next time somebody tries
> to trivialize the disease, let him look at the face of a man or woman
> with ice-pick scars. Only the cold-hearted would not be brought to
> tears. Keep accutane on the market. It is the only hope for many
> sufferers.