Meds cause man to gamble

<vpkozel> Good Lord <vpkozel>

Maybe not a health/medicine related thread- but I'm pimpin this forum.

Suit blames Parkinson's drug for gambling

Toronto, ON, May. 10 (UPI) -- The manufacturer of a drug used in treating Parkinson's disease is named in a Canadian class action suit alleging it causes compulsive gambling.

Gary Schick, 56, of Midland, Ont., is the representative plaintiff in the suit filed against Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd., the manufacturer of the drug known as Mirapex, and the U.S. drug company Pfizer Inc., with whom it had a marketing arrangement.

The Toronto Star said Tuesday a statement of claim served on the companies alleges they "purposefully downplayed" and failed to issue adequate warnings about risks associated with the drug, such as obsessive-compulsive behavior, including compulsive gambling.

Schick was diagnosed with the first stages of Parkinson's in 1996 and he was first prescribed Mirapex in 1999. Without his wife's knowledge, he began spending time at racetracks and casinos, and was stealing money from their grandchildren's birthday cards.

The couple declared bankruptcy in 2001 and lost their home.

The lawsuit is seeking $3 million on behalf of each claimant, special damages to cover their gambling losses and $50 million in punitive damages against the defendants.

 

He gives the rest of us a bad name.

 

I wonder if the guy had been a winner would he have shared the winnings with the drug company, since they were responsible.

 

Of course he would have sent them a check the very next day.