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The Abilify lawsuit claims the makers of Abilify failed to warn doctors and patients that the drug could cause compulsive gambling, shopping, eating, and sex. As of December 2018, more than 2,100 lawsuits were filed in federal court against the Abilify manufacturers.
Our law firm is no longer accepting Abilify clients.
Otsuka Pharmaceutical and Bristol-Myers Squibb, the makers of Abilify, are accused of negligently designing Abilify and hiding evidence that the drug increases the risk of addictive behavior.
Court records state the drug makers failed to properly test Abilify; exaggerated the benefits of the drug; and encouraged physicians to use the medication for purposes not approved by the FDA. Abilify is not approved to treat anxiety disorders, dementia, eating disorders, insomnia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Yet, the makers of Abilify convinced doctors to try it for these conditions.The Key Legal Issues
Lawyers argue that if doctors had known the real risks from taking Abilify, then doctors would have prescribed a different medication to treat a patient. The doctors definitely would have used a different medication if the patient started experiencing obsessive behavior.
In 2016, the FDA issued a warning that it had reviewed 184 cases connecting Abilify to compulsive behaviors, such as gambling, sexual behavior, shopping, eating, and impulse-control issues.
The addictive behavior began soon after the patient began taking Abilify, and stopped after the patient switched to different medicine.
The patient develops an uncontrollable urge to perform an action (such as, gambling), and cannot stop from doing it. The patient will perform the action even if it’s causing him or her personal, social, and financial injuries.
The Most Severe Injury
Abilify can cause addictive behavior. Patients can’t stop performing these actions even though they desperately want to stop, and the actions are causing harm. It appears that Abilify affects a patient’s dopamine level, which then influences the individual’s feelings of pleasure.
The most common side effects caused by Abilify are anxiety; blurred vision; constipation; dizziness; drooling; drowsiness; headache; lightheadedness; nausea; restlessness; trouble sleeping; and weight gain.
Some patients experience high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) when taking Abilify. Diabetics should check their blood sugar levels on a regular basis.
Pre-teens sometimes experience suicidal thoughts when taking this type of medication. Family members should carefully monitor children who take Abilify.
Taking Abilify during pregnancy may cause harm to the newborn, such as withdrawal symptoms, breathing difficulties, and feeding problems. However, you should not stop taking Abilify without first speaking with your treating doctor.
If you have experienced gambling losses caused by Abilify, then you might be able to pursue the following types of damages:
As of December 2018, more than 2,100 lawsuits were filed in federal court against the makers of Abilify by individuals who claim to have experienced compulsive behaviors because of the drug. The cases are being heard by Chief Judge M. Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida.
In 2005, Bristol-Myers Squibb paid a $515 million penalty to the U.S. government to settle claims that the company marketed Abilify to elder patients and children for unapproved “off-label” purposes.
In 2008, Otsuka Pharmaceutical paid the U.S. government $4 million to settle claims that the company marketed Abilify to child psychiatrists and nursing homes for unapproved “off-label” purposes.
In 2016, Bristol-Myers Squibb paid $19.5 million to several state governments to settle claims that the company minimized the risks of Abilify, misrepresented data from clinical trials, and illegally promoted the drug for “off-label” purposes. The company also paid $30 million to the state of California for illegally paying doctors to prescribe its medication.
In 2016, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled that all federal lawsuits involving Abilify and the connection to compulsive behavior are to be handled by a federal judge in the Northern District of Florida. In May 2018, the first three cases scheduled for trial settled for an unknown amount.
In 2019, a confidential settlement was reached involving all Abilify compulstive injury claims filed in the federal court MDL.
As of January 2019, there has not been a recall of Abilify related to addictive behaviors. However, in 2016 the FDA required the Abilify label to be changed to warn of the connection between Abilify and gambling and other addictive behaviors.
The Abilify label now reads: “patients may not recognize [their addictive] behaviors as abnormal, it is important for prescribers to ask patients or their caregivers specifically about the development of new or intense gambling urges, compulsive sexual urges, compulsive shopping, binge or compulsive eating, or other urges while being treated with aripiprazole.”
Interestingly, Abilify labels in Europe included warnings about addictive behavior beginning in 2012, and Canada started requiring the warning in 2015.
Abilify is an anti-psychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Tourette’s syndrome, autism, and depression.
It’s supposed to decrease hallucinations, disorganized thinking, mood swings, depressive thoughts, and tics. It’s not approved to treat dementia, and can increase the risk of death in patients suffering from dementia.
Abilify (aripiprazole) initially received FDA approval in 2002. It’s one of the “second generation” atypical antipsychotic medications, commonly known as SGAs. Other drugs in this class are Saphris (asenapine maleate), Clozaril (clozapine), Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate), and Risperdal (risperidone).
Abilify works by blocking receptors in the brain’s dopamine pathways. These receptors are involved in a person’s reward-motivated behaviors. Drugs like Abilify are supposed to reduce moodiness, hyperactivity, and aggressive behaviors.
After Abilify received approval in the U.S. to treat schizophrenia, it received approval to treat:
In 2013, Abilify was the top-selling prescription drug in the U.S., with multi-billion dollars in annual sales.
The FDA has issued a warning that the use of Abilify is linked to uncontrollable urges to eat, gamble, shop and have sex. Reported in Time Magazine – Abilify Compulsive Behavior Warning
Abilify is a best-selling drug that “is used to treat schizophrenia, and can be used in combination with other drugs to treat depression,” as STAT News puts it. It turns out that it can also, in rare cases at least, cause some very odd side effects. STAT reports that in a warning posted yesterday, the FDA explained that the drug appears to sometimes cause people to have urges to engage in various forms of behavior impulsively, ranging from sex to gambling. Reported in New York Magazine – Abilify Uncontrollable Urges and Armory Daily News
“The mother of two said she lost custody of her kids and possession of her house to a gambling habit she said began in 2008 after she was prescribed Abilify for depression.” Reported in FOX 31 – Compulsive Gambling & Abilify
“A Calgary woman is one of hundreds of Canadians who said their lives were negatively impacted by the drug Abilify and are taking part in a class-action lawsuit. Christina Milisic was prescribed the drug in 2013 to help with hallucinations and paranoia, but instead of relief, she quickly noticed strange new behaviors that she couldn’t control, especially gambling.” Reported in CTV News – Canadian Abilify Class Action
Almost a decade after settling up Abilify marketing allegations with the U.S. Justice Department, Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to pay $19.5 million to settle similar claims at the state level. Announced by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the deal covers claims that Bristol-Myers pushed Abilify as a treatment for kids and for elderly patients with dementia, when neither use was approved by the FDA. Reported in Fierce Pharma – Abilify Off-Label Settlement
After nearly a decade of litigation, Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to pay $30 million to settle charges by California officials of paying kickbacks to induce doctors to prescribe several of its medicines. Among the many medicines for which doctors were persuaded to write more prescriptions were the Pravachol cholesterol pill; the Plavix blood thinner; the Abilify antipsychotic; the Glucophage diabetes treatment; and the BuSpar antianxiety drug. Reported in STAT – Abilify Kickback Scheme
The Government alleged that, from 2002 through the end of 2005, BMS knowingly promoted the sale and use of Abilify, an atypical antipsychotic drug, for pediatric use and to treat dementia-related psychosis, both “off-label” uses. The Food and Drug Administration has approved Abilify to treat adult schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, but has not approved the use of Abilify for children and adolescents or for geriatric patients suffering from dementia-related psychosis. In fact, the FDA has mandated that the label for Abilify carry a “black box” warning concerning its use in the treatment of dementia-related psychosis. Reported in Department of Justice – Illegal Drug Marketing
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. agreed to pay $4 million to settle allegations brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming the company marketed its anti-psychotic drug Abilify for off-label uses by targeting child psychiatrists and nursing homes. Reported in LAW 360 – Abilify Illegal Marketing
The FDA issued a warning that compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge-eat, shop, and have sex have been reported with the use of the anti-psychotic drug aripiprazole (Abilify, Abilify Maintena, Aristada, and generics). These uncontrollable urges were reported to have stopped when the medicine was discontinued or the dose was reduced. Reported in FDA Abilify Safety Communication
The FDA identified 167 patients between 2002 and 2016 that began experiencing new urges leading to compulsive behavior after starting Abilfy treatment. Within days to weeks after reducing or stopping the medicine, all of the patients reported their urges stopped. None of the patients had a history of pathological gambling, compulsive sexual behavior, binge eating, or compulsive shopping before starting the treatment.
Labels for the prescription antipsychotic drugs Abilify and Abilify Maintena (aripiprazole) have been updated in Canada to advise of an increased risk of impulsive behaviours of pathological gambling and hypersexuality. Reported in Health Canada – Abilify Safety Concerns
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