Can the doctor's give you Accutane or will I have to go to a dermatologist? Please help!!!?

[Toto16]

I had pretty bad acne and I went on bactrim it did help but I stopped taking it since bactrim is only meant to be taken temporarily. I have extremely and I mean extremely oily skin. My acne isn't cystic or severe but it is very moderate. I've tried literally everything! Do I qualify for accutane? And will my Doctor prescribe it to me? Please help

[jmr2191]

Yes and no. Yes, because insurance companies and pharmacies usually do not discriminate as long as the practitioner has the appropriate degree, a license to practice medicine and uses a relevant ICD code. No, because after medical students get their basic overview or medicine in medical school, they end up in residencies and subsequent fellowships that allow them to specialize and treating a condition on a patient not relevant to your specific specialty and specialties would be unethical according to AMA guidelines and introduce the potential for significantly higher liability insurance rates for such a physician. Thus, a nephrologist, neurologist, opthalmologist or hepatologist, for example, would more than likely refer you to a dermatologist or internist for those reasons, as the specialists in the former have specific training in cutaneous conditions and specialists in the latter are usually primary care and general practitioners, who are usually the first to see such problems, have basic training across specialties and may have the capacity to handle it themselves.

[jacquesvol]

A doctor will not prescribe you Accutane with prescribing you the pill too.
Accutane is known to cause serious birth defects.
Try other means first.

[XRabbitHeartX]

My normal GP prescribed Accutante for me when I was around 12/13... it worked for a while but it dried every single part of my body out and did some long term damage on my body. It has dried my eyes out so bad that even years later I still have to use eye drops daily. My optometrist confirmed this when he tested my eyes and he asked me if I have been on any strong medication to which I said yes. He then told me what kinda damage Accutane really does behind the scenes. You're also supposed to go for medical tests every 6 months while on it cause it can mess up your liver and organs. Another thing.. when I did eventually go off it my acne just came back after a few months. I don't think it's feasible long term. It will temporarily solve the problem (as it did for me) but long term it didn't help me at all. Although then again my acne wasn't severe when I went on it. It was just mild acne.

[Toto16]

So I don't need to go to the dermatologist? My regular doctor can prescribe me to it?

[XRabbitHeartX]

Well mine did as I said.

[Anonymous]

They will more than likely send you to a derm. They can give it to you, but they like to milk our insurance whenever they can.