The Food and Drug Administration announced the long-anticipated program Friday - a move to toughen new restrictions aimed at preventing women from becoming pregnant with this birth defect-causing drug.
Both male and female patients will have to enroll in the registry, called iPLEDGE, by Dec. 31 or they can no longer receive Accutane.
The registry opens on Aug. 22, giving time for doctors, patients and pharmacies to understand how it will work before the provisions become mandatory. Wholesalers and pharmacies will have to register starting Oct. 31 or the drug's manufacturers can no longer ship them supplies of the pills.
