$8.2 Million Awarded In Mirapex Drug Trial
A drug given to treat Parkinson’;s disease and restless leg syndrome is the focus of a number of trials underway in the District Court of Minneapolis.
More than 200 plaintiffs are taking their case forward in so-called bellwether jury trials to determine the stregnth and weakness of the cases.
The cases have been consolidated against the drug, Mirapex.
So far it’;s not good news for drug makers Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim. This week a federal jury agreed the drug contributes to compulsive gambling and awarded a man $8.2 million.
Many people responding to the story think this is a joke, but it’;s not. Compulsive behavior can not only bankrupt you but destroy marriages and lives. Drug makers denied they knew about the potential side effects, but attorneys for the plaintiffs have shown that the drug makers had knowledge of these compulsive side effects back into the 1990s. Apparently the jury agreed.
Mirapex was approved in 1997, but a warning of compulsive behavior was not issued until 2005. All the while, millions of patients, trying to relieve the tremors of Parkinson’;s, took the drug. Compulsive behaviors observed include not only gambling, but shopping, eating, hypersexuality, porn, and many repetitive behaviors.
The drug makers blamed the compulsive behavior on the patients.
Requip is also in the same class as Mirapex- so-called “dopamine agonists” that stimulate the brain’;s movement and coordination centers, which also have to do with overactivating the brain’;s pleasure centers in an unregulated fashion.
Interestingly, when you stop the drug, the behaviors stop.
They are being charged with liability for design, manufacturing and warning; breach of warranty; and negligence.
More than 10 million prescriptions have been written for Mirapex.
If you or a loved one has been prescribed either of these drugs for Parkinson’;s or RLS, and developed unexplainable behaviors that you did not have any control over, you need to consult with the experienced pharmaceutical litigation attorneys at Farah & Farah.
And check our Web site under pharmaceutical litigation, to see the latest on the side effects of certain medications.
