The blurb below comes from an opinion in Knipe v. SmithKline Beecham, a suit against the maker of the antidepressant Paxil over the suicide of a 15-year-old boy.
In February 2001, deceased Plaintiff Jake Garrison (“Jake”) was referred to dermatologist Booth Durham, M.D., for the treatment of acne. Originally, Dr. Durham treated Jake with Accutane. In light of the drug’s labeling, the doctor informed Jake and his mother that the drug could cause suicidal behavior, and required them to sign a consent form. The Accutane course of treatment was completed in August or September of 2001. On January 10, 2002, Jake, who was fifteen years old at the time, returned to Dr. Durham as a result of redness and irritation on his face. Dr. Durham prescribed to Jake a fifteen-day supply of Paxil ten milligrams for treatment of his body dysmorphic disorder.* The dosage was increased to twenty milligrams after two weeks.
*Body Dysmorphic Disorder (“BDD”) is a type of somatoform disorder, a mental illness in which a person has symptoms of a medical illness, but the symptoms cannot be fully explained by an actual physical disorder. People with BDD are preoccupied with an imagined physical defect or a minor defect that others often cannot see. As a result, people with this disorder see themselves as ‘ugly’ and often avoid social exposure to others or turn to plastic surgery to try to improve their appearance.
The legal importance here is that the judge has allowed the case to proceed against the defendant’s claim of federal pre-emption. Our interest is in the child:
A 15-year-old kid with acne goes to the doctor, distressed about redness and irritation on his face. The doctor, a dermatologist, diagnoses “body dysmorphic disorder” and prescribes an antidepressant. We can’t prove anything about this boy’s case or his medical care – certainly not that Paxil caused his subsequent suicide. But when we were 15, just about everyone we knew was distressed about zits. We didn’t call it BDD, we called it being a teenager.