A Florida judge is expected to hear an Abilify gambling suit linking the drug to compulsive gambling problems.

The case was recently consolidated in Florida.

The Abilify gambling lawsuit alleges that the prescription drug Abilify is linked with triggering a variety of addictions and compulsive behaviors, including gambling problems, in those who take the drug.

The Abilify gambling suit consolidates dozens of individual lawsuit with similar allegations.

The newly consolidated Abilify gambling suit will be presided over by Northern District of Florida Chief Judge M. Casey Rodgers.

One of the plaintiffs involved in the case, a New Jersey man, alleges that a gambling addiction caused by Abilify led to $75,000 in gambling losses over the course of three years. After stopping Abilify use, he alleges, his urge to gamble stopped as well.

Abilify Background

Abilify (also known by its generic name, aripiprazole) is a widely used antipsychotic medication manufactured by Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Myers Squibb, both of which are named as defendants in this Abilify gambling suit.

Since its release onto the market, Abilify has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat a variety of mental disorders like schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and Tourette’s syndrome. Abilify now brings in billions of dollars each year.

The antipsychotic medication has actually been increasingly linked with serious Abilify risks. This is an issue in the fact that the use of Abilify is so widespread for certain mental disorders.

Side effects of the drug could have an extensive effect. Indeed, court documents note that around 24 million patients have been prescribed Abilify in the last 13 years. For some of these patients, this drug has caused serious damage.

Abilify side effects include impulse control problems like compulsive gambling and shopping addictions, as well as sex addiction.

While these risks do not appear to cause the kind of physical damage that many drug side effects do, compulsive behaviors like these can have serious and irreversible consequences for the patient and their loved ones.

Compulsive behaviors not only affect a person’s daily routine, but can have a dramatic and devastating impact on their family as well as financial matters. Indeed, Abilify risks like gambling and shopping compulsions naturally lend themselves to becoming financially destructive.

Compulsive gambling can be so severe that people who suffer from it are driven to gamble even when they do not have the financial capacity to do so.

Because of this, some gamble with credit cards or borrow money, which can land patients in extremely steep debt. This may not cause physical harm, but can ruin lives. S

hopping addictions function in a similar manner: a person with a serious shopping addiction may be spending far more than their wallets have the capacity to cover.

On top of these financial issues, these compulsive behaviors can tear a person away from their family, making them unable to function as they normally would.

The FDA has found at least 185 case reports linking Abilify to impulse control problems since 2002.

According to the FDA, “Pathological gambling was the most common (164 cases), but other compulsive behaviors including compulsive eating, spending or shopping and sexual behaviors were also reported.”

“These impulse-control problems are rare,” noted the FDA, “but they may result in harm to the patient and others if not recognized.”

The FDA announced in May 2016 an update to Abilify’s label that would note the drug’s link with “compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop and have sex.”

Filing an Abilify Gambling Suit

This Abilify gambling suit is far from the only one of its kind. Court documents note that over 40 lawsuits have been filed against Abilify’s manufacturers across the country.

If you or someone you know has been impacted by impulse control behaviors like compulsive gambling or shopping after taking Abilify or a similar antipsychotic drug, you may be eligible to file an Abilify gambling suit.