Abilify Compulsive Gambling lawsuits

The court is overseeing the Abilify linked compulsive gambling lawsuits has announced that the first trials may begin by the end of this year.

These product liability lawsuits claim that Abilify’s manufacturers, blocked key information from patients and doctors about the risk of compulsive behavior from using the blockbuster anti-psychotic medication.

Abilify Compulsive Gambling lawsuits

There are over 115 product liability lawsuits winding their way against Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, the makers of the drug through the federal court system.

The lawsuits have similar allegations that vulnerable patients suffered severe economic damages and personal injury due to uncontrollable gambling, shopping and other pathological behaviors that were caused by Abilify’s side effects.

Abilify Multidistrict litigation

The Abilify lawsuits claims have been consolidated late last year as part of a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL), which is centralized before U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida.

According to court documents, Judge Rodgers expects to begin holding trials in the MDL by the end of the year.

Abilify Gambling Risk

Abilify (ariprazole) is a blockbuster drug in the United States, with sales raking in over $9 billion last year. It was released in 2002 for treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other major depressive disorders. Unfortunately Abilify is widely used off-label to treat irritability, aggression, mood swings, anxiety, dementia and other behavioral issues.

In May 2016, the FDA required the drug makers to update the warning label to provide information for patients and doctors about the potential Abilify risk of gambling, compulsive shopping and other compulsive activities.

According to the plaintiffs, they may have not be victimized by Abilify compulsive side effects if adequate warnings had been provided

One of Abilify victim story

Some people might it difficult to believe that Abilify can cause a gambling addiction. One former Abilify consumer, who we will call Tony, developed such a compulsive gambling problem that his wife left him.

“I was on this medication for five years and my gambling addiction was so bad I lost my business and my wife,” says Tony. “Had I known that Abilify can cause gambling and sexual compulsions I would never have taken the drug. I can live with the weight gain but I’ll never get my wife back.”

Tony stopped taking Abilify over a year ago. He no longer has a gambling addiction but he is now bankrupt and divorced.

Tony filed a lawsuit against the makers of Abilify for failing to adequately warn consumers and doctors about its potential to cause compulsive behavior.

Abilify Medical Studies

Three major studies concluded that Abilify patients were able to control their gambling impulses when they discontinued the drug or had their dosage substantially reduced.

The British Journal of Psychiatry in 2011 published a study that examined three Abilify patients who were addicted to gambling. Six months after taking it they were switched to another anti-depressant, and all of them no longer had a compulsion to gamble.

A report in JAMA Internal Medicine (2014) found a substantial association between Abilify and gambling problems after studying the medical records of 1,580 patients reporting impulsive behavior issues. Also in 2014, the medical journal Addictive Behaviors published a study that found the same results.

Our law firm continues to investigate Abilify gambling linked side effects from across the country. If you or a loved suffered from compulsive gambling after taking Abilify, contact our office immediately for your free consultation.