Plane suicide drug maker suit dropped

TAMPA, Fla., June 28 (UPI) -- A Tampa, Fla., lawsuit alleging an acne drug caused a 15-year-old to kill himself by crashing a small plane into a skyscraper has been dropped.

Attorneys for Julia Bishop and Karen Johnson, the mother and grandmother of Charles Bishop, said the family of the boy is "physically and emotionally" unable to continue their lawsuit against Hoffmann-La Roche, the maker of the drug Accutane, which they had blamed for psychiatric effects that led to the suicide, the Tampa Tribune reported Thursday.

Charles Bishop crashed a stolen Cessna plane into the Bank of America Plaza four months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and authorities later found a note in the plane expressing sympathy for terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and his belief that the United States would pay for oppressing Palestinians.

Three months after the crash, the boy's family filed suit against Hoffmann-La Roche, claiming the medication caused his psychiatric problems. However, the company, which packages the drug with warnings about possible psychiatric side effects, cited a history of depression and suicide attempts by both of the boy's parents as the cause of his troubles, the Tribune said.