Accutane Scripts Stalled for Weeks After Safety System Revamp

Physician assistant Laura Bush called the help center 22 times after she suddenly couldn’t access the account she uses regularly to prescribe acne medication to her patients.

But the help line for the iPLEDGE Program—the platform providers and patients must use to get the drug commonly known as Accutane—didn’t pick up. She lost access the same day iPLEDGE underwent a system update.

“We were locked out for days and some people weeks,” said Bush, who also serves as the secretary and treasurer for the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants. Yet access to the system is critical for a drug whose ...