Popular acne drug at center of teen's murder defense #shorts | Forensic Files

Have you heard of the drug isot retinoid? Maybe not, but you probably have heard of one of its brand names,
Accutane. It's a drug that's commonly used to treat acne. And as a mom of teenagers, I know several kids who were
treated with this drug successfully. In 2023, a teenager named Connor Hilton who
was on Isot Retino, shot two of his friends, killing one of them and gravely injuring the other. His defense attorney
said essentially his acne drug made him do it. And they built their whole case around this defense, even though they
were unaware of any other case where the acne drug defense had worked. They found
Dr. Doug Brenner from Emory University, who says he studied Isot Retino for years, and he's testified about it as a
paid expert. Breer says retino can cause depression and psychosis. In fact, there
are warning labels on this drug about psychological effects. In Connor's case, Dr. Brener says the drug caused
homicidal thoughts and he says Connor was suffering from a medication psychotic disorder. Now to the families
of victims and to the prosecutors this seemed like a desperate attempt to explain the monstrous thing that Connor
Hilton had done. JG Pharma, the distributor of the drug that Connor Hilton was taking, did not respond to
our request for comment.

Brief Summary

The episode examines isotretinoin's link to a teen's violent crime defense.

Key points

The Isot Retino Defense. Connor Hilton's defense claimed his acne drug led to his violent actions.
Expert Testimony. Dr. Doug Brenner testified about the psychological effects of Isot Retino.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

His acne drug made him do it.

Defense attorney's claim in Connor's case.

0:22WatchFeb 7, 2026

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