By Kate Hagan
Dec. 8, 2014, 4:42 p.m.
Almost 200 Australians who developed
gambling and sexual addictions after taking prescription drugs used to treat
Parkinson's disease will be awarded compensation over alleged failures to warn
them about side-effects.
Drug manufacturer Pfizer this month
agreed to settle with 160 Australians who took its drug Cabaser to treat
tremors associated with Parkinson's disease or restless legs syndrome between
1996 and 2010.
The agreement, ahead of a class action
due to be heard in the Federal Court, follows a settlement last year for 32
people in a similar action against Aspen Pharmacare and Eli Lilly over their
drug Permax.
Patients are expected to share in
millions of dollars' compensation, with some losing hundreds of thousands of
dollars on gambling binges after taking the drugs despite not having prior
gambling problems.
Both Parkinson's disease and restless
legs syndrome are neurological disorders caused by a lack of dopamine in the
brain.
"Dopamine agonists" mimic the
effects of dopamine, in some cases restoring a person's ability to control
their movements.
But the chemical is also known to
produce a "rush" which has been linked to risk-taking behaviours and
addictions.
The class actions alleged that drug
companies were negligent in selling the medicines in Australia without any or
adequate warnings about side-effects.
Arnold Thomas & Becker partner
Allanah Goodwin said this led people to go on "gambling and shopping
binges and engage in bizarre hypersexual behaviour, without realising it was a
side effect" of the medicines.
Clients who developed gambling
addictions ranged from "a pensioner who might have lost a modest sum to
professionals who had a lot more money to go through," she said.
Pat Galea, 65, lost about $700,000 on
poker machines after taking both Permax and Cabaser for about a decade for
restless legs syndrome, which creates an urge for sufferers to move their legs.
"I'd go any spare moment I was not
working. If it was pay day I'd put most of it through and then realise I've got
bills and rent and petrol to pay. As soon as I had any money it was gone,"
Mrs Galea said.
She separated from her husband and
gambled away half the proceeds from the sale of their house, also selling her
car to fund her addiction
It took years for evidence to emerge
about the drugs' side-effects and as soon as Mrs Galea stopped taking them, she
lost the urge to gamble.
She has since reunited with her husband
and enjoys time with her three adult children and four grandchildren. Asked
whether the settlement came close to repaying what was lost, she laughed.
"It's a drop in the bucket. And
that's just the money. What about years of life for my family? What about their
suffering, let alone me?" she said.
Salvation Army financial counsellor
Maria Turnbull was among the first to ask questions about a link between
dopamine agonists and compulsive gambling after a bankrupt woman in her 60s
came to her seeking food vouchers in 2006.
The woman told Mrs Turnbull that drugs
she was taking for restless legs syndrome had led her to gamble, and she
started looking into a possible link.
Mrs Turnbull has since met more than
100 people involved in the Australian class actions, including a man who
developed compulsive sexual behaviour and is now on the sex offenders register.
He needs permission to see his grandchildren.
"There are people I'm sure who
have committed suicide over this. They haven't known it was the drug doing it.
There are families that have been ripped apart," she said.
A spokeswoman for Pfizer Australia said
that while the parties had agreed on a proposed settlement, this was subject to
Federal Court approval, and the drug company was therefore unable to provide
further comment.
The story Parkinson's disease sufferers win payout from Pfizer
for drug linked to gambling, sex addiction first appeared on The Sydney Morning
Herald.
http://www.camdencourier.com.au/story/2750439/parkinsons-disease-sufferers-win-payout-from-pfizer-for-drug-linked-to-gambling-sex-addiction/?cs=7
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