Over 100 Australians have launched a group claim against Aspen Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer Australia, claiming that anti-Parkinson's drugs produced by the two companies led them to develop addictive behaviour.
It's alleged that a side-effect of the drugs Permax and Cabaser - both designed to treat the symtoms of the incurable condition - is an irresistible urge to gamble. According to the claimants' lawyer Anne Shortall "the drugs mimic the effect of dopamine in the brain, which is a pleasure-seeking type chemical and can cause addictive-type behaviour". For most, this manifested itself in a "pathological urge to gamble", she claims, whilst for others it was compulsive sexual behaviour. And many of the claimants say they are now facing financial ruin and broken families as a result, according to a Perth Now report.
So from one form of gambling to another, the group have decided to take their claim before the courts. Amongst the claimants are pensioners Alan Burrow and Alan Clayton who both allege that taking Cabaser resulted in an addiction to poker machines, losing them $300k and $100k respectively. Burrows claims that the urge to play the machines subsided as soon as he came off the medication, but by that point his debts meant he and his wife were forced to sell their home.
Reports of these compulsive side-effects are not new. Frenchman Didier Jambart claimed that the Parkinson's drug ReQuip produced by GlaxoSmithKline had turned him into a gay, cross dressing sex addict. He successfully brought his case before the Nantes court last month and GSK was ordered to pay out €117K in compensation, according to France Soir. And last year British IT manager Peter Shepherd told a court that his time taking Parkinson's drug Cabergoline led him to blow £400k on a luxury lifestyle as a transvestite.
The Therapeutic Goods Association says the drugs now have warnings about compulsive behaviour - but Shortall says it's all a bit too late for those who took the medication without being made aware of the dangers. The Australian claim continues.
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It's alleged that a side-effect of the drugs Permax and Cabaser - both designed to treat the symtoms of the incurable condition - is an irresistible urge to gamble. According to the claimants' lawyer Anne Shortall "the drugs mimic the effect of dopamine in the brain, which is a pleasure-seeking type chemical and can cause addictive-type behaviour". For most, this manifested itself in a "pathological urge to gamble", she claims, whilst for others it was compulsive sexual behaviour. And many of the claimants say they are now facing financial ruin and broken families as a result, according to a Perth Now report.
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Some compulsive gamblers yesterday |
So from one form of gambling to another, the group have decided to take their claim before the courts. Amongst the claimants are pensioners Alan Burrow and Alan Clayton who both allege that taking Cabaser resulted in an addiction to poker machines, losing them $300k and $100k respectively. Burrows claims that the urge to play the machines subsided as soon as he came off the medication, but by that point his debts meant he and his wife were forced to sell their home.
Reports of these compulsive side-effects are not new. Frenchman Didier Jambart claimed that the Parkinson's drug ReQuip produced by GlaxoSmithKline had turned him into a gay, cross dressing sex addict. He successfully brought his case before the Nantes court last month and GSK was ordered to pay out €117K in compensation, according to France Soir. And last year British IT manager Peter Shepherd told a court that his time taking Parkinson's drug Cabergoline led him to blow £400k on a luxury lifestyle as a transvestite.
The Therapeutic Goods Association says the drugs now have warnings about compulsive behaviour - but Shortall says it's all a bit too late for those who took the medication without being made aware of the dangers. The Australian claim continues.