Abilify

August 15, 2016

Abilify Compulsive Gambling Side Effects Triggers Divorce

Some people might it difficult to believe that Abilify can cause an addiction to gambling. In fact, one former Abilify consumer, who we will call Tony, developed such a compulsive gambling issue that his wife left him.

“I was on this medication for five years and my gambling addiction was so bad I lost my business and my wife,” says Tony. “Had I known that Abilify can cause gambling and sexual compulsions I would never have taken the drug. I can live with the weight gain but I’ll never get my wife back.” Tony stopped taking Abilify nearly a year ago. He no longer has a gambling addiction but he is now bankrupt and divorced.

Three major studies concluded that Abilify patients were able to control their gambling impulses when they discontinued the drug or had their dosage substantially reduced. The British Journal of Psychiatry in 2011 published a study that examined three Abilify patients who were addicted to gambling. Six months after taking it they were switched to another anti-depressant, and all of them no longer had a compulsion to gamble. A report in JAMA Internal Medicine (2014) found a substantial association between Abilify and gambling problems after studying the medical records of 1,580 patients reporting impulsive behavior issues. Also in 2014, the medical journal Addictive Behaviors published a study that found the same results.

June 30, 2016

Abilify lawsuits on the rise

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Abilify (aripiprazole) is one of the best selling drugs in the world, with 2015 sales estimated at more than $6 billion worldwide. It was approved by the FDA in 2002, for the treatment of a number of psychological problems, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and autism in adults and children.

Research has suggested that side effects of Abilify may impact an individuals impulse control, potentially leading to gambling addictions or other unusual behavior that can have a devastating impact on an individuals family, employment, financial position and overall quality of life.

As a result of the drug maker’s failure to adequately warn about the potential impulse control risks, financial compensation may be available through an Abilify lawsuit for individuals who have suffered damages as a result of compulsive gambling.

May 10, 2016

Abilify compulsive gambling lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

One of the most popular treatment for a variety of mental disorders like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression, Abilify makes billions for Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company and Bristol-Myers Squibb. With sales over $6.4 billion annually, it is one of the top-selling drugs in the U.S. Abilify works by either decreasing or increasing serotonin or dopamine in the brain when there is an imbalance.

Medical studies have linked the drug to disturbing compulsive behavioral side effects that can cause injury on the lives of patients and their families.

Among these side effects is pathological or compulsive gambling, a financially crippling side effect that can destroy lives. People with compulsive behaviors will do anything to continue the chosen activity, even if it means withdrawing from friends and family and ignoring the rest of their lives.

April 27, 2016

Abilify gambling side effects trigger lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Recent studies linking compulsive gambling to Abilify have triggered lawsuits across the country. A FDA report showed that from 2005 to 2013, at least 54 compulsive behaviors were reported by patients, including 30 reports of compulsive gambling.

Reports of compulsive gambling have since been on the rise – more than 29 reports were made to the FDA in 2014 alone.

In January 2016, Sean Brazil, a former Abilify user, filed a lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb in New York federal court. Brazil says he developed a compulsive disorder problem after taking the antipsychotic drug Abilify and that U.S. users weren’t warned about the risk of compulsive gambling. Brazil began taking Abilify in 2004 and soon after that began compulsively gambling. The compulsive gambling continued until nearly a decade later when he was taken off Abilify.

March 8, 2016

Abilify Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Abilify lawsuits are now being filed nationwide alleging economic losses from Abilify. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., the makers of Abilify are under fire for the side effects of their blockbuster drug. The companies are exposed to a new product liability lawsuit, which claims that the compulsive or pathological gambling side effects associated with the popular antipsychotic medication causes severe financial harm.

Nicholas Meyer recently filed against Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Meyer alleges that he suffered Abilify gambling losses in excess of $45,000 after starting to use Abilify. According to Meyer, he began using the drug in November 2010, and developed a compulsive gambling habit.

Meyer claims that the compulsive gambling problems stopped once he stopped taking the drug, but he has been left with economic damages from the side effects of Abilify.

Meyer in his Abilify lawsuit claims that, “The injurious impact of Abilify on the Plaintiff’s brain constitutes a physical injury, and as a result of Abilify use, Plaintiff has suffered, and will continue to suffer, neuro-psychiatric and physical injury, emotional distress, harm, and economic loss as alleged herein.”

Abilify Compulsive Gambling Problems

Abilify (ariprazole) is a blockbuster cash cow drug for Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., in the United States, with sales in excess of $6 billion per year.

Abilify was approved by the FDA in 2002 for treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other major depressive disorders, but is also widely used off-label to treat irritability, aggression, mood swings and other behavioral issues including autism spectrum disorders.

Abilify Warnings in Europe and Canada

In November 2012, European drug regulators required Abilify pathological gambling warnings, adding information to the label about reports of users engaging in uncontrollable gambling activities and recommending that patients should be monitored carefully. But the companies neglected to provide similar warnings to patients and doctors in the United States.

The companies provided warnings about the link between Abilify and gambling to the Canadian doctors in November 2015, after governmental regulators found cases where patients began compulsive gambling or hypersexuality behavior.

Abilify Lawsuits

Several Abilify gambling lawsuits have been filed in recent months throughout the United States, claiming that the drug manufacturers knew or should have known that the Abilify patients face an increased risk of uncontrollable gambling.

The plaintiffs blame the makers for withholding warnings from patients and doctors that may have allowed folks to identify the problems before they suffered damages to their financial stability.

Medical Studies: Abilify and Gambling

A study published in October 2014 in JAMA Internal Medicine found that medications known as dopamine receptor agonists, that are used to treat Parkinson’s disease, were associated with impulse control problems. The researchers also found the same abnormal behavioral problems with the use of Abilify.

Abilify has been linked to compulsive behavior side effects, such as pathological gambling, binge eating and hypersexuality. These behaviors are triggered by the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin.

When the dopamine system is stimulated in response to a particular activity, people will feel a high from it or a feeling of pleasure. Medical experts think Abilify may over-stimulate dopamine reward receptors in the brain – called dopamine 3 (D3) receptors – and trigger compulsive behavior.

Abilify Lawsuits: Devastating Financial Losses

Compulsive addictive gambling from Abilify can have a tremendously devastating impact on patients, causing serious financial losses and reckless behavior that can destroy families, and cause irreversible damage folks. When a person has a compulsive symptom, a brain irregularity makes some behaviors impossible to stop without medical assistance.

Compulsive gamblers have a tough time walking away from gambling facilities including slot machines, blackjack tables, casinos, roulette wheels, horse and greyhound racing, and poker tournaments even if they are broke. One sad and tragic outcome is that they gamble on credit and drive themselves into unsustainable debt, ruining their and their families lives.

Plaintiffs claim if they were adequately warned about the risk of compulsive behaviors, they may have avoided the damaging consequences by stopping use of Abilify.