Annabel Wright: Family 'made aware' of Roaccutane adverse effects

Annabel Wright was found dead at her home in May 2019

A dermatologist who helped to treat a teenage girl's skin warned her parents about "all adverse effects" from an acne drug, an inquest has heard.

Annabel Wright, 15, who was prescribed a course of Roaccutane, was discovered dead in her bedroom at her home near Ripon in North Yorkshire on 1 May 2019.

Her mother said she had not been made aware that "suicidal impulses could overcome a perfectly normal person".

Dr Alison Layton said she checked the family understood the drug information.

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The inquest held in Northallerton previously heard Annabel had acne from the age of 12 and had tried a variety of prescribed treatments, including antibiotics.

After a GP referral, she saw dermatologists at Harrogate District Hospital in late 2018 and isotretinoin, sold under the brand name Roaccutane, was recommended as a suitable treatment.

Dr Layton, a consultant dermatologist at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said isotretinoin was found to be suitable for Annabel as she was "at risk of permanent scarring" from her acne.

She told the inquest that "many millions of people" had taken the drug worldwide and Annabel had completed a psychometric test and a questionnaire to help assess her suitability.

The consultant said: "I had no concerns about her mental health and we were given no family history of mental health issues.

"There was nothing preceding us seeing her to suggest there were any mental health issues."

The inquest heard isotretinoin, currently available from Roche as Roaccutane, has been available for use in the UK since the early 1980s

Dr Layton said she always explained "all adverse effects" of the treatment to patients and their parents, including the small risk associated with depression and suicide.

She said worldwide case reports had raised the possibility of a relationship between the drug and suicide, but large-scale studies including thousands of people had failed to establish any causal link.

Asked whether she believed there was a link between Roaccutane and Annabel's death, the consultant said: "I'm not a psychiatrist, I can't really comment on that."

Annabel's mother Helen Wright told the inquest that her daughter had shown no signs of depression and her death "just didn't make any sense".

"I wasn't made aware that suicidal impulses could overcome a perfectly normal person," she said.

The inquest continues.

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