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Man takes legal action over Parkinson’s drug gambling link
Man takes legal action over Parkinson’s drug gambling link
The manufacturer of a drug used in treating Parkinson’s disease is named in a class action suit alleging it causes compulsive gambling.
Now, before you throw a hissy fit over stupid, American, tort lawsuits, let me point out two things:
- I agree that it’s stupid.
- It’s Canadian.
Sure, don’t believe me. Go check the link. I’ll wait here. I promise.
Ok. Believe me now? Good.
The real story here, of course, is that the man claims that this drug causes obsessive compulsive behavior and that Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd., and Pfizer Inc. conspired to supress that information from him.
What the story doesn’t mention is that Boehringer Ingelheim and Pfizer are doing a pretty good job of keeping that information out where people can find out about it.
Here’s a quote from the drug’s latest pharmacological notes:
Post-Marketing Experience: In addition to the adverse events reported during clinical trials, the following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of MIRAPEX Tablets. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. Decisions to include these reactions in labeling are typically based on one or more of the following factors: (1) seriousness of the reaction, (2) frequency of reporting, or (3) strength of causal connection to MIRAPEX Tablets. Similar types of events were grouped into a smaller number of standardized categories using the MedDRA dictionary: accidents (including fall), compulsive behaviors (including sexual and pathological gambling), fatigue, hallucinations (all kind), headache, hypotension (including postural hypotension), libido disorders, syncope, and blackouts. (emphasis added)
Now, aside from mourning the lost art of precise writing (or are they meaning to insinuate that their drug is alleged to make people play strip poker [the only form of sexual gambling I could come up with]?), it seems to me that they have noted that someone, somewhere has reported compulsive behavior as a side-effect of the drug, and even mentioned gambling in connection with that.
So, would I be out of line in saying that the smart money here is on the drug companies?
MickC @ May 11, 2005