Teenager ‘took her own life after taking drug for acne’

A TEENAGER killed herself because of the medication she was taking for her acne, her parents have told an inquest.

Annabel Wright was found hanged in her bedroom in May 2019 after being prescribed the drug Roaccutane the previous year.

Her mother, Helen, told an inquest in Northallerton, N Yorks, that her 15-yearold daughter had shown no signs of depression and her death “just didn’t make any sense”.

Annabel saw her GP about her acne at the age of 12 and was later referred to a dermatologist at Harrogate District Hospital when she was 14.

Mrs Wright said she raised the issue of suicide being a potential side effect, at their first appointment at the hospital in Oct 2018, when the doctor suggested Roaccutane. She told the hearing that the doctor told her that people may take their own lives because they are depressed about their acne.

She said: “And Annabel wasn’t. She wasn’t depressed about her skin.”

Reading from the leaflet which listed potential side effects from the drug, Jonathan Leach, the assistant coroner, said it warned patients to inform their doctor if their mood changed or if they started having thoughts of self-harm.

Mrs Wright added: “I wasn’t made aware that suicidal impulses could overcome a perfectly normal person.”

The inquest heard that Annabel “scratched” her wrists with a razor in Jan 2019, shortly after she had been heard laughing on the phone to her friends in her bedroom.

When her mother asked her about why she had done it she told her: “I felt down.” Mrs Wright said: “She couldn’t explain it and I couldn’t understand.”

At an appointment on May 1, doctors said they would recommend that Annabelle’s dosage be reduced. Later that night she was found dead.

Her father, Simon, told the inquest he believed Annabel’s death was linked to Roaccutane. He said: “There was no precursor of depression, mood change, being morose or anything like that.”

The hearing continues.