What's not up for debate, however, is Accutane can cause birth defects. According to Dr. Agnes Klein, a spokesman for the federal Department of Health and Welfare, it's been known all along that birth defects can be caused by the drug. Studies done prior to the release of the drug showed it caused birth defects in the offspring of lab animals exposed to Accutane.

To date, only three cases of Accutane-related birth defects have been reported in Canada (with reports of another approximately 20 therapeutic abortions or miscarriages where the drug was implicated). In the U.S., however, federal authorities have received reports of 62 documented cases of Accutane-linked birth defects.

At the heart of the Accutane controversy is the fact that there is no perfect form of birth control. No matter what kind of birth control a woman uses there is a margin for error. And if her birth control fails or she does not use any and becomes pregnant while taking the drug, the fetus will be exposed. (According to a University of Saskatchewan study of Accutane users there, about 30 per cent of the women, mostly in their late 20s, weren't using any form of birth control.)