The Nation - News from Oct. 17, 1985

A drug used to treat severe acne appears to change blood cholesterol ratios, thus increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke if used for long periods, New York doctors said. A study of 60 patients who took the drug Accutane orally for 20 weeks found the ratios of their good cholesterol to bad cholesterol changed for the worse. But Dr. Susan Bershad of Mount Sinai Medical Center said the increase would not be a “dramatic difference.” The report was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.