ABILIFY AND COMPULSIVE GAMBLING – WHAT THEY KNEW, WHEN THEY KNEW IT

Life is hard enough when you or a loved one is struggling with a mental illness such as schizophrenia, depression or bipolar disorder. Sometimes medication is the only option to provide hope and help towards living a healthy, happy life. Unfortunately, many times medications that seems like a solution can cause more problems for innocent patients. If you took Abilify (aripiprazole) and battled with compulsive gambling, then you may be able to make a claim against Bristol-Myers Squibb, the makers of Abilify.

We’d like to help, but we can’t accept your claim if you are still experiencing compulsive behavior but still on Abilify. Please talk to your medical professional about your options.

WHAT THEY KNEW

The FDA approved Abilify in 2002. In May 2015, the FDA published a safety announcement stating that Abilify is linked to several “compulsive or uncontrollable urges” including compulsive gambling. On May 4, 2016, the FDA required that Abilify have a new warning label listing the potential for these hazardous behaviors.

WHEN THEY KNEW IT

In the early stages of testing Abilify, doctors recognized that hypersexuality, a form of compulsive behavior, was an adverse effect of patients who took this medication. However, the warning label never alerted patients to this potential problem. Additionally disconcerting is that in October 2012, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) – which is like our FDA – added a warning label to Abilify to reflect the potential for pathological gambling. Even Canada added this warning to Abilify labels before the United States in November 2015.

Countless patients around the world have been reporting that after taking Abilify, they had an uncontrollable urge to gamble.

• In March 2010, a 64-year-old women who was taking 15 mg of Abilify reported that she couldn’t stop gambling or over-eating.
• In December 2010, a study was published that found a link between how mutant HTR2B (a receptor that Abilify effects) increases impulsive behaviors.
• In January 2016, Nicholas T. Meyer filed a lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb which caused him, “harmful compulsive behaviors including compulsive gambling [and resulted] in substantial, financial, mental, and physical damages.”

WHAT CAN YOU DO

If you took Abilify and had a gambling problem after taking this medication, you may be able to receive compensation. You and your family may have experienced stress and suffering as a result of this destructive compulsive behavior and have accumulated bills or were forced to take time off of work because of it. There was a minimum of 3 ½ years where Bristol-Myers Squibb knew that their drug could cause uncontrollable urges, and yet they never warned doctors or patients of these horrible adverse effects. Contact us today to see if you qualify to make a claim.

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