Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., face a couple’s recent Abilify gambling claim alleging that their drug caused her to develop a compulsive disorder leading to monetary and physical injuries.

Plaintiffs Cassandra and Daniel K. file the Abilify gambling claim in Florida federal court. The lawsuit was filed on April 3, 2018.

According to the Abilify gambling claim, Cassandra says that she took Abilify approximately between 2007 until 2016, as prescribed. However, the lawsuit states that because of her ingestion of Abilify, she suffered “bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering.”

Further damages suffered have also included “disability, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of medical care and treatment, loss of earnings, loss of ability to earn money and other economic losses…,” says Cassandra in the Abilify gambling claim.

The Abilify gambling claim was filed on multiple counts including strict liability, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, negligence, negligence per se, negligence misrepresentation, violation of consumer protection laws, fraudulent concealment, loss of consortium, and punitive damages.

Filing an Abilify Gambling Claim

Patients who have filed Abilify lawsuits allege that the drug caused compulsive gambling side effects and other compulsive behaviors that they were never warned about. They file Abilify lawsuits seeking relief for their injuries and financial losses.

Among other allegations, these plaintiffs claim that:

• Otsuka and Bristol-Myers Squibb should have known or knew of the adverse side effects and that the drug contributes to compulsive behaviors including compulsive gambling.
• Patients have suffered from uncontrollable gambling that have led to psychological, physical, and financial damage.
• The companies mislead and minimized Abilfy’s risks and overstated the drug’s benefits.
• The companies failed to adequately study Abilfy and its adverse complications.
• The benefits of Abilify do not outweigh its risks.
• $10.6 million in payments were made out to medical physicians to promote Abilify.

Plaintiffs who file Abilify gambling claims can hope to receive compensation for their losses and Abilify related damages. Some of these damages may include: spousal loss of consortium; emotional distress; neuropsychiatric injury; gambling losses, financial losses, economic losses, and physical injury.

Many lawsuits filed against Abilify’s manufacturers center around claims that Abilify does cause compulsive eating, gambling, and urges to have sex and shop. According to these claims, studies have long linked Abilify to compulsive gambling side effects, including one that linked this Abilify-related side effect since 2010.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), required these warnings to be placed on the drug’s label due to “reasonable evidence of a causal association” between Abilify and compulsive behavior.

Although Abilify more recently added this warnings to its labels, Canada and Europe both beat the U.S. in adding these warnings.

According to Health Canada, they have stated that “current review concludes that there is a link between the use of aripiprazole and a possible risk of pathological gambling or hypersexuality.” Health Canada updated the Canadian information for prescribing Abilify “[a]fter the totality of evidence was considered, and because of the extensive use of Abilify…”

The Abilify Gambling Claim is Case No. 3:18-cv-00525-MCR-GRJ, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division.