[Fiona]

From:
http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/3562

"The first Mirapex lawsuit to go to trail has resulted in an $8.2 million award to the plaintiff, Mealey’s Emerging Drugs & Devices is reporting. The lawsuit was the first of more than 300 to go to trail in the Mirapex multidistrict litigation in the US District Court in Minneapolis that blame the Parkinson’s Disease drug for causing compulsive gambling. It was considered a bellweather case, and was being watched by many to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of the other Mirapex lawsuits.

Gary Charbonneau, who began taking Mirapex in December 1997, said he suffered from a gambling addiction from March 2002 to February 2006. In that period of time, he gambled away $260,000. Charbonneau’s lawsuit not only claimed that Mirapex caused his gambling problem, but that the drug’s makers, Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim, knew about its potential to cause compulsive behavior, but did not issue any warnings, or take steps to investigate the true scope of the problem.

Other Mirapex lawsuits claim that Boehringer Ingelheim received reports linking the drug to compulsive behavior during clinical trials conducted in the 1990s, and received additional reports of patients developing gambling addictions after it came on the market. It wasn’t until 2005 - eight years after its introduction - that information about compulsive behavior was finally added to the Mirapex label.

The defendants argued that they were not liable for Charbonneau’s addiction because the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) had not asked for any label changes, despite reports that Mirapex was causing compulsive behavior. They also argued that Charbonneau’s gambling problem started years after he began treatment with Mirapex, and continued long after he stopped taking the drug.

The federal jury, however, agreed with Charbonneau and awarded him all of his gambling losses, along with $7.8 million in punitive damages. Neither Pfizer nor Boehringer Ingelheim have commented on Thursday’s verdict, but an appeal is likely.

Mirapex, one of a class of drugs known as dopamine agonists, has long been suspected of causing compulsive behavior. The suspicion was bolstered in June, when researchers investigating the link between dopamine agonists and compulsive behavior presented their findings at International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders conference in Chicago. The study, which looked at more than 3,000 patients from 46 medical centers in the United States and Canada, found that Parkinson’s patients on dopamine agonists are nearly three times more likely to have at least one impulse-control disorder - including gambling addiction - compared with patients receiving other treatments. "



THIS is just about the only kind of working within the system I can contemplate right now. The truth needs to be told, and all its implications made crystal clear before any healing can happen.

I loved hearing about the East African shaman who said that among his people, when someone is sick, the whole tribe works on it every day until he or she gets better.

[bluedahlia]

GOOD!!!!!!

Ok, a few more. Been suffering for 7 years because of this devil drug that took over my mind, on top of Mr. Parkinson taking over my body.

[paula_w]

Here are some of the disclosures that were printed [required] at the Amer. Academy of Neurology this year. They are labeled by name.


C. Olanow
http://www.aan.com/annualmeeting/sea...&start=93&p=61

Anthony Lang -lead investigator for GDNF failed phase 2 trial
http://www.aan.com/annualmeeting/sea...&start=94&p=61

Mark Stacy, researcher heavily involved in proving mirapex was causing these problems. Note Boeh/Ingleheim not on his list.
http://www.aan.com/annualmeeting/sea...&search=Search

Here's a pic of more with their disclosures.
http://theparkinsonsgroup.com/faculty.asp

Most, if not all, list Boehringer Ingelheim, distributors of Mirapex.

paula

[ol'cs]

sooner or later the insurance companies won't go near anyone who has PD. These are the kind of blunders that plunders those "rich drug companies" to the point where they won't produce substances here on American soil. It has unseen undercurrents and has potential repercussions that are against us. WE must remain the storehouse of the world's chemical and drug industry. Sure you expect a financial closure in the cases of obvious death and dismemberment (including those for the mind), but don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

[Fiona]

Originally Posted by ol'cs

sooner or later the insurance companies won't go near anyone who has PD. These are the kind of blunders that plunders those "rich drug companies" to the point where they won't produce substances here on American soil. It has unseen undercurrents and has potential repercussions that are against us. WE must remain the storehouse of the world's chemical and drug industry. Sure you expect a financial closure in the cases of obvious death and dismemberment (including those for the mind), but don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

ol' cs, thanks for your thoughts. I wonder what other neurotalk members and readers who live in various parts of the globe think about the necessity of your idea of the USA controlling the world's chemical and drug industry. When I'm talking about the implications of the truth being made clear, I realize that challenging the big drug companies could and likely will threaten our economy, since they make higher profits (which continually escalate) that are larger than all the other Fortune 500 industries combined (oops, guess they are rich). But things need to change. Our economy at one point was based on slavery, and that needed to change.

Besides the fact that most of our drugs are manufactured in China anyway (where our notions of quality control don't really apply), why should we remain the storehouse of the world's chemical and drug industry? We spend more on health care - two and a half times per person as any other industrialized nation -and we rank 37th in terms of overall quality of healthcare amongst all the world's nations? Lowest on the list of preventable deaths than any other industrialized nation? We're not doing a good enough job at all, and it seems like there's a lot we could learn from how other countries do things apparently. And the insurance companies already won't touch you if you have PD - and that just ain't good enough either.

And I, for one, have had it with this tiptoeing around the robber barons that uphold our economy. Our way of doing things, medical system, and our very act of consumption has become based significantly on untruths, on fear, on deception.

Yeah, it would shake things up to start holding those holding those golden eggs to start being accountable. That will be difficult for all of us.... But this is only the beginning, and things will get far worse - and soon - unless we develop the moxie to look at how things really are, and demand accountability and justice.

[lindylanka]

Hi Fiona, CS, Paula and all,
I am glad that this case HAS this result, I have been watching the Mirapex story closely for a while, as I know someone over here in the UK whose life was very adversely affected by this drug, and whose family also suffered too. As someone 'looking in' it seems obvious that no matter where in the world you are the stranglehold of the pharma companies is great for shareholders, but not for those people on the ground with real diseases and conditions, and that includes people in the US, so when these kinds of discussions have come up I have sat on my hands and mostly watched them happen, because nothing that people in my part of the world say can affect anything in the slightest.

I have strong feelings about this having worked for a WHO gynae doctor trialling contraceptive implants in the third world. The way things operated there was nothing short of shameful, the women were very uneducated, often with very poor health, and were neither offered nor would have been able to comprehend precautionary documentation, and I completely balked when I was expected to type up reports that filled in information for the pharma co, that were blatant falsity with the knowledge of the company local reps. I quit the job in disgust, but would have been fired otherwise for refusing to do what was asked......... it was not that the drugs were bad, that was not my judgement call, it was the way that it was all administered, the half-soaked and negligent snake-oil way things were done.

It seems to me that Mirapex is just another such drug, among the many, which are thrown at the patient as being useful, and once prescribed is wholly inadequately followed up, mainly because of medical and patient ignorance, brought about by misinformation that is controlled by the pharmas. Where is screening for suitability, proper followup, safeguards for the patient, etc. I am sure that for many Mirapex is useful, and a good tool in the armoury against PD, just like the contraceptives could be for women broken down by multiple pregnancies. But for a very significant minority of people the side-effects are unsustainable and everything says, over and over again, in so many cases against these companies, that THEY KNEW THE SIDE EFFECTS and failed to keep people informed, or deliberately withheld information in their scramble to make big bucks. It simply is not true that such cases will scare off the investors in research, to my mind it only redresses the balance a tiny amount. That is how it is presented so that FEAR decides things over good thinking and rationality.

For every successful case there are hundreds, maybe thousands in the US who will never be compensated for their suffering, and for every class action in the States there are thousands upon thousands of people worldwide who neither have the resource or the empowerment to even complain......and then there are those who never even get near ANY treatment, because medicine is so beyond their means.............. the overinflated prices of drugs, the poor production methods in unregulated countries, all this is wrong, millions of people know this, why should these companies be protected from their own fallibility, why should they not be held to account for their greed...... it is the successful cases like this that signal that things need to change.

I have been following some of the recent posts that express frustration with things like fragmented representation for people with PD, and the way that resources are not used well; some of the other discussions around PD communities and needs too, aren't these the things that should be right up there at the top of the agenda, and isn't the reason why they are not because of this culture of money only flowing one way.......

There does need to be a new ethical paradigm within the pharmaceutical and medical world, things need so much to change. I do not think that the big pharmas with their emphasis on profit should be in control of the health of people worldwide, the question is not who should be in control, but how can it be wrested from the profiteers and put in the hands of people who believe in being responsible to the end users of their products. Ultimately that will only happen when there is more pressure put on them, not less, if it hits them in their pockets then they will have to change. In the meantime we need to shout louder...............

Lindy

[smithclayriley]

Originally Posted by Fiona

ol' cs, thanks for your thoughts. I wonder what other neurotalk members and readers who live in various parts of the globe think about the necessity of your idea of the USA controlling the world's chemical and drug industry. .

It does not make sense to me, in fact any control of this kind is frightening.

Originally Posted by Fiona

And the insurance companies already won't touch you if you have PD - and that just ain't good enough either. Yeah, it would shake things up to start holding those holding those golden eggs to start being accountable. That will be difficult for all of us.... But this is only the beginning, and things will get far worse - and soon - unless we develop the moxie to look at how things really are, and demand accountability and justice.

We are not denied medical in Canada but forget about applying for any private health or sick benefit insurance to protect, say your mortgage, medical costs, cost of living. You can't get vehicle insurance coverage unless you fess up about your medical condition and then 'they' want to re-test you every year. I complained that I was being profiled by writing a letter to the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles and it worked, I got a clearance for 5 years. Like Fiona says one cannot turn a blind eye to injustice.

Bonnie

[smithclayriley]

ol'cs,

I will assume you were not one of the unfortunate pwp who was taken down by this drug, Mirapex. Three years later I'm still trying to stabilize. The toll it took emotionally on myself, my family and former partner is unmeasurable. I won't even get into the monetary cost to myself because it's over and others lost much more than I. I will tell you this, I could never go through something like that again.

Thank god an award was finally forth-coming, it gives me hope.

Bonnie

[paula_w]

Lindy, Very well said and thanks for telling it like it was. If we don't speak up - it may be rough and inconvenient for us, but deadly for many around the globe.


cs, I thought about possible reasons why I would not like these awards or lawsuits. I came up with -

• Unfortunately, these lawsuits will possibly be used as "reasons" for future halts or cancellation completely of drug development. [as vioxx was used in the gdnf case]
• They are unique, in that they are about behavior. There are many impulse control behaviors, like the use of the computer. In some situations, it might be which came first, the behavior or the drug? Should I sue for the loss of my marriage and family unit because I am punding too much on the computer? The literature focuses on gambling - there are many other behaviors. The computer is like gambling - in that it provides hits of gratification, that are strong enough for one to keep going after more.

I would love to see the court documents. I would like to know who testified in favor of the company. This thought is followed by a perfect flip flop in thinking that pitches me right with Fiona, Lindy and SCR calling for justice. We may never know who is right - but I'd like to know how they all behaved trying to determine the conclusions.

paula

[Fiona]

wow, guys thanks for the responses - marvelous to hear all your thoughts.

In terms of scaring off new investors - most drug company budget allocations for R and D are miniscule compared to let's say marketing and advertising, and most of the groundbreaking work comes from situations that are paid for by the taxpayers anyway. Plus, they haven't come up with any thing really curative, shall we say, in 40 years. Did a nice job with the HIV-AIDS thing - not curing but at least making life possible and bearable. Most of the 'new drug development' is let's move one molecule in Claritin before its patent runs out so we can repatent it and call it Pristique or whatever. This, after raising the price of Claritin 13 times in four years?????????

My doctor did tell me as she prescribed Mirapex to me in 1999, "this one has some psych effects. You're going to be up at night cleaning closets...." So it seems they knew something. What I didn't know is that my entire personality would change from a responsible person who paid my way and balanced my checkbook to someone who completely lost control of her own and her family's finances, lost at least tens of thousands of dollars thru impulse spending, took on some very inappropriate behaviors that put me at great risk, and many other things that have subsided now that I am finally off that stuff. And they say up to one-third of patients experience some of these symptoms...

What slays me -amongst other aspects - is how business is usually all unhappy about 'government intervention' but then takes tax money to develop their products that they then want to control the prices and have exclusive deals for, and then turn around and say "Well it was the Feds who should have made us divulge what we already knew was a major problem with our product even before marketing it...."

This is hardly responsible behavior.