A woman has filed a lawsuit against the makers of Abilify, saying the drug led her to develop compulsive behavior she had not experienced prior to taking the antipsychotic.

Plaintiff Kimberly C. says Abilify-related compulsive behavior caused her to suffer monetary losses of more than $250,000. She says she has lost financial stability and other mental, physical, and economic losses.

Kimberly claims that the changes in her brain that were induced by Abilify constitute a physical injury. She took Abilify from 2003 to 2017.

Compulsive behavior is a possible side effect of Abilify, which was the predecessor to the newer drug Rexulti. The drugs have similar profiles and are both used to treat patients suffering from schizophrenia or major depression.

Studies show that Abilify may be linked to compulsive behavior such as compulsive gambling, shopping, sexual urges, and other addictive behaviors. Even patients who had never before experienced such compulsive behavior noticed the problems began after taking the drug. They report the impulses ceased once the drug was stopped.

Compulsive Behavior Allegedly Hidden Side Effect

Abilify was one of 2014’s top-selling medications in the U.S. Made by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals Inc., Abilify was FDA-approved in 2002 to treat bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Tourette’s syndrome, and depression.

Otsuka also makes Rexulti, which was FDA-approved in 2015 to take Abilify’s place when Abilify’s patent expired, resulting in generic Abilify (aripiprazole) to become available.

Rexulti is a more potent formula than Abilify, but both drugs are dopamine D2 receptor partial agonists, which means they are particularly effective at treating schizophrenia. Both Rexulti and Abilify activate serotonin 5HT1A receptors and block 5HT2A receptors, adding to their effectiveness in treating schizophrenic patients.

Because the chemical makeup of the drugs is so similar and their actions on the brain’s chemicals are so similar, there is concern that Rexulti patients are at risk for developing compulsive behavior.

Before January 2016, Abilify’s U.S. label never mentioned pathological gambling or compulsive behavior becoming a side effect, even though labels in Canada and Europe warned of “pathological gambling.”

In May 2016, the FDA required warnings regarding “compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop, and have sex” would be added to Abilify’s label.

According to the compulsive behavior lawsuit, the drug’s makers “knew or should have known that Abilify can cause compulsive behaviors like gambling.” Between 2005 and 2013, the FDA adverse event reports recorded “at least fifty-four reports of compulsive or impulsive behavior problems, including thirty reports of compulsive gambling, twelve reports of impulsive behavior, nine reports of hypersexuality, and three reports of compulsive shopping.”

The Compulsive Behavior Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-00244-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.