A woman from Colorado claims she lost thousands of dollars because of Abilify gambling problems.

Plaintiff Tae C. says she started taking Abilify in 2007. She claims that shortly after that she began to gamble compulsively.

Her gambling continued for years until she finally stopped taking Abilify in December 2014, she claims. By then, she claims, she had incurred over $75,000 in losses.

Tae now alleges the Abilify she took caused her to gamble uncontrollably.

Her Abilify lawsuit takes on defendants Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc., all of whom she alleges had a hand in the development, manufacture or marketing of Abilify.

Tae now alleges that her Abilify gambling problems resulted directly from a failure on the part of these defendants to issue a proper warning about the risks of compulsive behavior associated with Abilify.

Plaintiff: Warnings About Abilify Gambling Problems Were Inadequate

Abilify is a psychiatric medication used to treat depression, bipolar I disorder, schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. It’s been on the market in the U.S. since 2002.

Tae reports that according to defendant Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abilify was its “2013 largest-selling product,” with sales that reached $2.3 billion.

According to Tae’s Abilify lawsuit, regulators in other countries have required Abilify’s label to carry a warning about the risk of Abilify gambling problems.

In 2012, the European Medicines Agency required the defendants to add a warning about the risk of pathological gambling to the labeling for Abilify.

Canadian regulators took a similar step in November 2015 after they concluded that there is “a link between the use of aripiprazole [the generic name for Abilify] and a possible risk of pathological gambling or hypersexuality.”

The Canadian regulators added a warning to Abilify’s label stating that patients with a prior history of compulsive gambling could be at higher risk for Abilify gambling problems and should be monitored accordingly.

But in the U.S., Tae says, the label for Abilify didn’t mention any such risk until only recently.

In January 2016, the defendants added a mention of “pathological gambling” to the “Postmarketing Experience” section of the label.

She says a similar warning about compulsive gambling should have been added to the patient medication guide, the part of the labeling she believes is most likely to be read by patients.

In a communication issued by the FDA in May 2016, the agency announced the addition of warnings to the Abilify label.

The new warnings would address reports of “compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop, and have sex.”

Tae’s Abilify gambling problems lawsuit raises claims for defective design and manufacture, breach of warranty, negligence, negligence per se, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment and violation of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.

She seeks an award of damages including punitive damages to deter the defendants from acting similarly in the future. She also seeks reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation.

The Abilify Gambling Problems Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-cv-02396, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.