Suicidal Pilot's Family Drops Drug Maker Suit

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jun 27, 2007

TAMPA - The family of a boy who killed himself by slamming a stolen plane into a skyscraper four months after the Sept. 11 attacks has dropped its $70 million lawsuit against the makers of an acne drug they blamed for the suicide.

U.S. District Judge James Moody dismissed the lawsuit Tuesday at the request of lawyers for Julia Bishop and Karen Johnson, the mother and grandmother of Charles Bishop, who said they didn't wish to proceed against Hoffmann-La Roche, the maker of the drug Accutane.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they were "physically and emotionally" unable to continue with the hard-fought litigation.

The January 2002 death of the 15-year-old Palm Harbor boy gained international attention as images of the stolen Cessna protruding from the Bank of America Plaza were broadcast worldwide on the heels of the Sept. 11 attacks. Inside the plane, authorities found a note from the teen expressing sympathy for Osama bin Laden and promising that the United States would pay for oppressing Palestinians.

The boy's family blamed the medication Accutane for his death and sued the drug's maker three months after the crash.

But Hoffmann-La Roche denied the drug was responsible, while also pointing to warnings given in the packaging of possible psychiatric side effects. The company also suggested in court papers that the teen came from a troubled background.

A recent filing by the drug maker noted that Julia Bishop and Charles' father entered into a suicide pact in 1984, before their son was born. According to court papers, the couple, who were not yet married, tried to kill themselves with carbon monoxide. When that didn't work, Julia Bishop stabbed her boyfriend in the abdomen with a kitchen knife at his urging, she testified in a deposition.

Asked what happened next, Julia Bishop testified, "Well, he was supposed to stab me, and like I said, we were going to, you know, curl up and spend eternity together. And he said, 'Oh my God. This hurts so much. I can't do this. I won't do this to you.' And I said, 'Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.' And I called 911."

An attorney also claimed during the deposition that Julia Bishop tried to kill herself by jumping out of a window when she was 15, the same age as her son when he died. But Julia Bishop adamantly denied the claim.

In response to questions, the teen's mother described numerous bouts of depression she endured and discussed several psychiatric drugs she was prescribed.

The drug maker also notes in court papers that except for the first and second grades, Charles Bishop spent every grade in a different school, and in some years, went to more than one school.

Both Sides Spent Thousands

Five years after the lawsuit was filed, with 490 entries on the docket, the family members have "endured years of difficult litigation and with the prospect of further personal attacks … simply cannot proceed," wrote Fort Lauderdale attorney Michael J. Ryan in court papers.

Both sides estimated in court papers that they spent extraordinary sums of money. On one issue alone, Hoffman-La Roche claims it "by conservative estimates" spent tens of thousands of dollars. The plaintiffs' attorneys wrote that they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's not clear how much of that, if any, will be billed to the Bishop family.

Julia Bishop, Karen Johnson and their attorneys could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

One of the most contentious issues in the legal fight centered on efforts by the drug maker to examine the teen's computer for evidence of his intent when he flew the plane into the building.

Even after the plaintiffs filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Hoffmann-La Roche attorneys sought to keep this aspect of the case alive, asking Moody to keep jurisdiction until he could determine whether the plaintiffs' attorneys had violated their legal obligations to turn over information related to the computer.

Moody, however, dismissed the lawsuit completely.

Similar Case Dismissed In 2002

In response to a request for an interview, Hoffman-La Roche spokeswoman Shelley Rosenstock sent an e-mail noting that the dismissal of the lawsuit comes with "no payment required from Roche. As we have said, and continue to say, there is no reliable scientific basis to conclude that Accutane causes depression or suicide."

The drug maker said a court in Texas dismissed a similar case in December 2002 when it found the plaintiffs' expert lacked a reliable scientific basis to conclude Accutane caused psychiatric side effects.

In the only case to go to trial alleging that Accutane caused a patient to experience psychiatric side effects, a federal jury in Oklahoma ruled in Hoffman-La Roche's favor in April 2002.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.