There is a vast amount of negative press on the acne medication, Accutane. However, there are also great benefits to the drug, many that cannot be found in any other acne medication. Much of the negative press lately has to do with supposed contraindications from Accutane, including depression, tendancies toward suicide, Crohns disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and other mood alterations. The simple truth is that we have NEVER encouraged a patient to stop taking Accutane for any of these reasons. Some patients cannot handle the dryness associated with Accutane, but that is the only primary reason we have people stop taking it.
Dr. Rueckl has prescribed Accutane to tens of thousands of patients over his years in medicine, and he simply has never seen any of the contraindications that the lawsuits and fearful opposers state. Dr. Rueckl has taken the drug himself; he has prescribed it to his children, nieces, and nephews; and he believes that there is no similar drug on the market. It’s truly unfortunate that Accutane gets such a bad reputation because it’s a really great drug, with great benefits, and it cannot be replicated by any other medication, laser, or therapy. There are other acne medications you can take, both oral and topical, but the time they take to work can be much longer than Accutane and some actually have worse, proven side effects. Additionally, there are different types of acne and many medications simply work on only one type of acne, so you might end up with multiple types of medication if you have different types of acne.
Dr. Rueckl doesn’t prescribe anything that will harm patients. He gets no compensation from, or even samples, of Accutane, so there’s no monetary or office advantage for him to give it out. When he prescribes it for patients it’s because it’s the best thing on the market for them. If you have fears about Accutane or have heard horror stories or bad press, please call our office and we’ll discuss it with you. There is no reason that you should have to live with bad acne and scarring.
