If you have Parkinson's + compulsion, blame Big Pharm

[Mairead]

Joe Neglia was a retired government intelligence worker with Parkinson's disease when he suddenly developed what he calls a gambling habit from hell. After losing thousands of dollars playing slot machines near his California home several times a day for nearly two years, Neglia stumbled across an Internet report linking a popular Parkinson's drug he used with compulsive gambling.

"I thought, 'Oh my God, this must be it,'" he said. Three days after stopping the drug, Mirapex, "all desire to gamble just went away completely. I felt like I had my brain back."

...

Neglia, 54, now living in Millersville, Md., ... said the problem is underreported "because of the embarrassment factor" and is one of several patients suing manufacturer Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., accusing the company of failing to adequately warn patients about the potential side effects.

California attorney Daniel Kodam, who filed the lawsuit last year, said he's spoken with more than 200 Mirapex patients who developed compulsive behaviors, including excessive gambling, sex and shopping. He is seeking to have the complaint certified as a nationwide class-action lawsuit. A similar suit has been filed in Canada, Kodam said.

...

Katherine King O'Connor, a spokeswoman for the Ridgefield, Conn.-based Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, said there's no scientific evidence that Mirapex {$200M in sales last year} causes the problem. Still, the company revised Mirapex's package insert earlier this year to include compulsive behavior among potential side effects after receiving "rare" reports all after the drug was approved for U.S. use in 1997, O'Connor said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=930534

[DanCa]

1. Big Pharmicies also = no stem cell

Lol I posted three times on three different threads in three different about the same subject. Do I have ocd :D Now I know how Adrian Monk feels.