THE parents of a teenage schoolgirl believe that an acne drug she was taking may have influenced her tragic decision to take her own life.

An inquest, held in Northallerton on Wednesday, heard that 15-year-old Annabel Wright from Ripon was a happy, sociable teenager with no history of depression or suicidal thoughts.

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She had been taking the anti-acne drug Isotretinoin in the months before her death on May 1, 2019 and her parents, Helen and Simon believe it caused an 'overwhelming' suicidal impulse in the youngster.

The drug's information leaflet does warn that low mood and depression can be a rare side-effect and some studies have suggested a link between suicides and the drug.

Annabel's parents believe they weren't sufficiently warned about its potential dangers.

Helen said: "Annabel was the brightest, happiest child. I always used to joke that she would live until she was 120 because nothing used to bother her, things used to go over her head.

"She wasn't one for moods, she was just an easy-going, happy child with no issues."

She added: "Normal, happy people do not just commit suicide without any sign or lead up to it."

Helen told the hearing that she raised the drug's suicide link with Dr Ibtessam El Mansori, the dermatology specialist at Harrogate Hospital who recommended it, but was told that it could be argued that suicides happened due to patients' depression over their acne and because they were a vulnerable demographic.

The coroners' court heard that Annabel had initially been taking antibiotics for her acne for about a year before she was referred by a GP to a specialist clinic at Harrogate Hospital.

She attended her first appointment in October 2018 and after spending a month on an alternative treatment, she was then prescribed Isotretinoin.

Dr El Mansori said Annabel had been prescribed the drug due to the severity of her acne, the scarring that was developing and because previous treatments had not worked.

She said that 'robust procedures and monitoring' were followed when any patient was placed on it.

However, Professor Chu an expert dermatologist who saw photographs of the youngster's condition, said that he would not have graded Annabel's acne as severe and other options should have been better explored before she was prescribed Isotretinoin.

He pointed to studies that have linked the drug to suicides and said that what Annabel experienced before her death would have been 'almost like an acute psychotic reaction'.

The court heard that Annabel, who attended St Aidan's School in Harrogate, had self-harmed in late January 2019, but her parents said that the 'scratches' she made with a razor blade may have been inflicted in a bid to seem 'edgy' in front of her friends and they did not link the behaviour to the drug.

Helen said:“She couldn’t explain it and I couldn’t understand.”

She said they did not tell doctors about the incident because self-harm had never been discussed.

“It never occurred to me this might be because of the drug,” she said.

“I was looking out for depression with Annabel, and low mood, thinking that would be a precursor to what eventually happened, but it wasn’t.”

Annabel’s father, Simon Wright, added: “We thought it was just silliness and a stern talking to, followed by some love and affection, was all that was required.”

When asked by Assistant Coroner Jonathan Leach why she thought her daughter’s death and the medication she was on were linked, Helen said: “It just didn’t make any sense.

"Why would somebody go from being totally happy to killing themselves?”

She added: “It came over her in a wave, I’m sure of it.”

Mrs Wright continued: “There was nothing that indicated she had been planning anything.

“Her last words to me were ‘don’t wash my trousers, I’ll need them tomorrow’.”

The inquest continues.

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