Former Gambling Addicts Suing Parkinson’s Disease Drug Company
Two men are suing the maker of the drug Mirapex, which allegedly caused them to develop intense gambling addictions.
Joe Neglia and Jim Sweet, who both suffer from Parkinson’s disease, used the drug Mirapex for several years before they realized, they said, that the drug was responsible for their sudden gambling problems.
Neglia, a former federal government official with Top Security Clearance, became "instantly and savagely hooked on the slots” during a cruise to Alaska with a gambling casino on board. When he returned home from the cruise, the intense gambling continued.
"When I returned from the cruise I began hitting the local casinos," he recalls, "there were three within 25 minutes from my home."
"I hit them every day," he said, "frequently all day for two full years."
Neglia finally came to suspect, after two years of daily gambling, that his addiction was caused by the drug he was taken for Parkinson’s Disease when he read a scientific study that established the link. He stopped taking Mirapex and, within one week, his urges stopped completely.
"There is simply no compulsion to gamble anymore," Neglia said.
"Only upon stopping the drug did I return to my old, responsible self."
Sweet has a similarly tragic tale of gambling addiction. He started taking Mirapex for Parkinson’s Disease in late 1998, after which he suddenly began gambling online, “running up thousands of dollars in credit card debt."
Soon after, Sweet’s "gambling addiction escalated to include casinos, race track betting, lottery, and more online betting."
"I went through a living hell for over three years while on Mirapex, with a drug induced gambling addiction," he said.
Sweet tried to conquer his gambling addiction by visiting Gambler’s Anonymous and other counseling groups, and even checked into a psychiatric ward at a hospital, but nothing worked.
Finally, Sweet spoke to a psychiatrist who suspected that his gambling addiction had been caused by Mirapex.
"He took me off the drug," Jim recalls, "and after the drug was out of my system, I stopped gambling."
"It was like a weight being lifted off my brain," Jim says, "I was myself again, able to relax, read a book, watch a movie, and spend time with my family."
Despite countless studies and personal accounts indicating the link, the makers of Mirapex have been slow to act. Although they did publish a warning in Mirapex’s informational package inset to include compulsive gambling as a potential side effect of the drug, this has been their strongest action to date.
In response to the latest study which suggested a strong relationship between the drug and problem gambling, released last month, the makers said only that they were investigating the link, “if any.”
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Former Gambling Addicts Suing Parkinson’s Disease Drug Company
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