Drowsiness is one thing. But side effects like attempted suicide, gambling away the family’s savings and exposing yourself on the Internet while on a gay sex rampage is another story.
These are the side effects that a French man, Didier Jambart, claims were caused by the Parkinson’s drug Requip before he stopped taking the drug in 2005. The drug is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, which began to put warning labels on Requip packaging, coincidentally, in 2005.
Jambart says his problems had already run their course by the time he realized that the drug was the cause of his harm. Jambart is a married father of two children, and his wife has stuck by him throughout the ordeal, which caused him to blow through his family’s savings, take a demotion at his job with the defence ministry, become addicted to risky gay sex and be raped by a man, expose himself on the Internet and attempt suicide at least three times.
It is certainly not out of the question that Jambart will win his case for $610,000 in damages, for couple of reasons.
First, a 2010 study published in the Archives of Neurology showed that up to 17 percent of people with Parkinson’s disease who are treated with a dopamine agonist (Requip is one example) exhibit an impulse control disorder. Second, a district court in Minneapolis awarded Gary Charbonneau $8.2 million in gambling losses and punitive damages in 2008 when he successfully sued Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim, the makers of Parkinson’s drug Mirapex. Other patients have also won similar cases.
Parkinson’s disease is believed to affect about 1 million Americans, with about 60,000 new diagnoses for the disease taking place each year. The disease is caused by the destruction of neurons that release dopamine in the brain. Requip helps to restore dopamine receptors, which are often referred to as the “feel-good” neurotransmitters.
In certain cases, however, people who take dopamine agonists find that their normal inhibitions are completely overcome, and they engage in compulsive behaviors like gambling and shopping. Some patients can lose their moral compass.
Jambart said that after taking Requip for just a few days, he found himself consumed with energy, and he would get up at 4 in the morning to run for 5 or 10 miles at a time. But then, he said, his newfound energy caused his behaviors to take a turn for the worse.
ABC quoted a GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman as saying, “”Anyone receiving treatment with dopamine agonists who notices unusual behaviors, such as new or increased gambling urges, increased sexual urges or other intense urges should talk to their doctor.”
Dopamine agonists can help people live normal lives for about 15 years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s because they are often effective at relieving the physical motor symptoms caused by the disease. These include shaking, stiffness, slowness and trouble balancing.
Although these benefits may come at a cost to some people, most doctors agree that the benefits outweigh the risks, as long as doctors are clear with their patients about the possible side effects of Requip and other dopamine agonists. People who cannot control their behaviors need to recognize it immediately.
In Jambart’s case, he is also suing his neurologist for failing to warn him of the risks of requip. Jambart’s argument does seem to have some merit, as Glaxo may have been a bit tardy in putting warning labels on Requip. For instance one study at the Duke University Medical Center linked dopamine agonists to gambling in 2000.
A ruling in the court case is expected on March 24.
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