Doug Bremner on Accutane, PAS and the brain

Brain scans and Accutane

In this interview, Doug Bremner talks about his research on the psychiatric risks of isotretinoin (Accutane), and about Post-Accutane Syndrome (PAS). He is a professor of psychiatry and radiology at Emory University.

He describes a brain-imaging study that compared 13 people taking Accutane with 15 taking an antibiotic, during treatment. He says it showed changes in a part of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex.

What else the interview covers

• The pushback he says he faced from industry and from colleagues.
• The part he believes propaganda played in hiding findings that were inconvenient.
• The parallels he draws between Accutane, finasteride and SSRIs, and between the conditions reported after each: PAS, Post-Finasteride Syndrome (PFS) and Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD).
• His book, The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg, which has been made into a film. The video includes the film’s trailer.

Moral Medicine describes the book as an account of the medical and system failures that kept these risks hidden for decades.

Thank you to Doug Bremner for this interview. It was recorded by Moral Medicine, who have filmed more than ninety of these conversations.

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