In a new Abilify gambling lawsuit, a Florida couple says they were never properly warned about the risk of compulsive behavior associated with Abilify.

Plaintiffs Fanny and Darryl L. are suing over complications they say resulted from Fanny’s use of Abilify.

The couple alleges Fanny began taking Abilify sometime around January 2009. Soon after that, they say, Fanny started gambling compulsively.

Her compulsive gambling finally stopped but, they claim, only after she stopped taking Abilify in January 2014.

The couple now attributes Fanny’s uncontrollable gambling to Abilify, a product of defendants Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co.

The couple’s Abilify gambling lawsuit claims Fanny’s compulsive gambling would never have happened if the defendants had not induced Fanny and her treating physicians to use Abilify through the use of “deception, fraud, false advertising, false pretenses, misrepresentations, unfair and/or deceptive practices, and the concealment and suppression of material facts.”

Abilify Gambling Lawsuit Calls for Stronger Warning About Compulsive Behavior

Abilify, or aripiprazole, is a psychiatric medication originally discovered by defendant Otsuka in 1988, according to this Abilify gambling lawsuit. It was approved for U.S sales in November 2002.

The couple says Otsuka continues to produce Abilify and works in conjunction with Bristol-Myers Squibb to jointly market, sell and promote Abilify in the U.S.

They quote Bristol-Myers as calling Abilify its “2013 largest selling product,” with sales that year hitting $2.3 billion.

Fanny and Darryl argue that based on ample publicly available scientific and regulatory information, the defendants had to have known about the link between Abilify and compulsive gambling.

The couple says that in 2012, the European Medicines Agency required the companies to warn European patients and treatment providers that use of Abilify includes a risk of pathological gambling.

Canadian regulators issued their own report in 2015, finding an increased risk of uncontrollable gambling and hypersexuality in association with Abilify treatment.

The Canadian prescribing information was modified in November of that year to include a warning specific to the risk of pathological gambling, the plaintiffs claim.

Despite these warnings being required in other countries, the labeling for Abilify sold in the U.S. did not mention any risk of pathological gambling until January 2016, the plaintiffs claim.

Even then, they say, the warning appeared only in the Postmarketing Experience section of the label, leaving no mention of pathological gambling in the patient medication guide.

The couple’s Abilify gambling lawsuit raises claims for strict liability, negligence, negligence per se, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, breaches of express and implied warranties, and violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

They are also bringing a claim for loss of consortium to seek compensation for the effect of Fanny’s complications on their marital relationship.

They seek an award of damages including punitive damages to punish the defendants for their allegedly “intentional, willful, knowing, fraudulent, [and] malicious” acts. They also seek reimbursement for their attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation.

The Abilify Gambling Lawsuit is Case No. 3:16-cv-00414, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.