Compulsive Gambling and Mirapex Verdict $8.2 Million
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A drug given to treat Parkinson’s disease and restless leg syndrome is the focus of a number of trials underway in the District Court of Minneapolis. More than 200 plaintiffs are taking their case forward. But first, three cases will be heard back-to-back to determine the disposition of the remaining cases, including whether there should be a class settlement.
The cases have been consolidated against the drug Mirapex. So far it’s not good news for drug makers Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim. This week a federal jury agreed the drug contributes to compulsive gambling and awarded a man $8.2 million.
Many people responding to the story think this is a joke. But it’s not. Compulsive behavior can not only bankrupt you, but destroy marriages and lives. Drug makers denied they knew about the potential side effects, but attorneys for the plaintiffs have shown that the drug makers had knowledge of these compulsive side effects back into the 1990s. Apparently the jury agreed.
Mirapex was approved in 1997, but a warning of compulsive behavior was not issued until 2005. All the while, thousands if not millions of patients, trying to relieve the tremors of Parkinson’s began compulsive behavior. Not only gambling, but shopping, eating, many repetitive behaviors.
More than 10 million prescriptions have been written for Mirapex.
The drug makers blame the compulsive behavior on the patients.
Requip is also in the same class as Mirapex- so-called “dopamine agonists” that stimulate the brain’s movement and coordination centers by overactivating the brain’s pleasure centers. When you stop the drug, the behaviors stop.
With so many people involved in behavior they cannot stop, and no clue that theirs may be a drug-induced state, the drug makers deserve all the scrutiny these trials are now bringing.
They are being charged with liability for design, manufacturing and warning; breach of warranty; and negligence.