A woman has filed a problem gambling lawsuit against the makers of Abilify, a prescription used to treat depression, bipolar I disorder, and schizophrenia.

Plaintiff Elizabeth H.’s complaint joins a multidistrict litigation (MDL) against Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. She says her problem gambling came about due to taking the drug as prescribed.

Elizabeth alleges Abilify caused her to develop compulsive gambling behaviors when she took the medication from September 2013 to February 2015. As a result of compulsive gambling, she alleges she has “suffered mental anguish, loss of capacity to enjoy life, monetary losses, loss of financial stability and other mental, physical and economic losses” that are either permanent or continuing.

According to the Abilify MDL, the drug makers warned patients in Europe and Canada about the risks of developing problem gambling behavior but did not  put a warning on the U.S. label until 2016. Even then, “pathological gambling was only added to the post-marketing experience portion of the U.S. label and was not mentioned in the patient medication guide.

In May 2016, the FDA ordered the Abilify label to add a warning that the drug could cause “compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge, eat, shop, and have sex” in patients who previously did not exhibit such compulsive behavior.

The label now has been amended to warn patients that they may not recognize these behavioral changes as being abnormal and that such compulsive behavior could result in the patients harming themselves and others. The FDA recommended that doctors alert patients and caregivers to “closely monitor” patients, who might need to reduce or halt Abilify if problem gambling or other compulsive behaviors become evident.

Elizabeth and other plaintiffs took Abilify before the dangers of compulsive behaviors were added to the drug’s labeling.

Drug Makers Allegedly Hid Problem Gambling Issue

The Abilify MDL alleges that Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka “wrongfully and unjustly profited at the expense of patient safety and full disclosure to the medical community by failing to include language about gambling in the United States labeling and by failing to otherwise warn the public and the medical community about Abilify’s association with gambling – despite opportunities and a duty to do so.”

As a result, Abilify made much more revenue for the drug companies in the U.S. than it generated in Europe and Canada, where the risks of problem gambling and other compulsive behaviors were known.

In 2013, Bristol-Myers declared Abilify was its biggest-selling medication with sales totaling $2.3 billion.

Abilify acts as a partial and full dopamine agonist. The brain uses dopamine as a neurotransmitter that primarily controls the reward and pleasure centers of the human brain. According to the problem gambling lawsuit, scientific research has identified dopamine as “a potential cause of pathological gambling for years.”

The Problem Gambling Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-01431-MCR-GRJ and is part of the Abilify MDL, In re: Abilify (aripiprazole) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2734, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division.