A woman who allegedly developed a gambling problem, among other compulsive behaviors, has filed a lawsuit against the makers of Abilify.

Plaintiff Jennifer A. says she took Abilify from March 2011 until January 2018. Abilify is a prescription atypical anti-psychotic medication prescribed to treat depression, bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals make Abilify and are the named defendants in the MDL that Jennifer’s lawsuit has now joined.

According to Jennifer’s short-form complaint, she “has suffered obsessive/compulsive/impulsive behaviors, including but not limited to” the following:

• Gambling
• Sexual behavior
• Checking
• Counting
• Washing and repeating
• Attempted suicide
• Enhanced suicidal thoughts
• Gambling losses
• Job loss
• In-patient psychiatric hospitalization
• Sexual promiscuity

According to the short-form complaint, Jennifer also has suffered “guilt, shame, low self-worth, loss of family trust and respect, debt,” among other damages.

Gambling Problem Side Effect Allegedly Hidden

When Abilify was introduced to the U.S. market in 2002, a large marketing and advertising campaign promoted the drug to doctors and to the public. Abilify was heavily marketed as a drug that could be used as an adjunct therapy if a patient who was currently taking an antidepressant was continuing to experience symptoms.

The European Medicines Agency in 2012 issued a warning that Abilify had been potentially connected to an increased risk of pathological gambling behavior and ordered the label to mention this potential risk. Strikingly, the European Medicines Agency never approved Abilify as an adjunct treatment for depression because the agency said it had not been convinced Abilify was effective in that area.

In 2015, Canada’s drug regulation agency ordered that Abilify include warnings that Abilify had been linked to an increased risk of gambling behavior and of increased sexual behavior.

Abilify’s label in the United States did not address any possibilities of compulsive behaviors as a side effect until January 2016. At that time, the possibility of a gambling problem was only mentioned in the “postmarketing experience” part of the label. According to the gambling problem MDL, no mention of an increased risk of gambling or other compulsive behavior was mentioned in the patient medication guide, the “source of information liked viewed by physicians and patients.”

The FDA issued a warning that Abilify was linked with “compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop and have sex” and that doctors should make both patients and their caregivers aware of the risk of such uncontrollable urges.

The MDL suggests there are chemical reasons that Abilify could increase the risk of the patient developing compulsive, uncontrollable behaviors.

Abilify is a partial and full dopamine agonist. Because dopamine is one of the neurotransmitters that controls the reward and pleasure areas of the brain, dopamine plays a role in compulsive behavior, including gambling problems.

According to the gambling problem MDL, scientists have identified dopamine as a possible cause of gambling problems for years.

The Gambling Problem Lawsuit is Case No. 3:16-md-02734-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.