A treatment for Parkinson’s disease is at the centre of an international controversy. The treatment is linked to several cases of compulsive disorders in Australia, America and Europe. A few patients have reported issues with gambling addiction. When most casino gamblers look at casino games as a great way to relax, win a bit of money and have fun, other casino games users develop an addiction to gambling. They cannot seem to control how much they gamble and how many hours a day they can play. This can be a very serious issue as gambling addiction can create issue with family life, work and money management with many gambling addicts being unable to have stable relationships, stable employment and often are in and out of debts.

A few patients, after taking the treatment against Parkinson’s disease, have reported compulsive disorders. The patients have reported a link between the treatment and gambling addiction and are now seeking compensation from the pharmaceutical giant. The compulsive behaviours reported range from gambling addiction to various forms of repetitive behaviour and even sex addiction or an unusual increased sex drive.

The two pharmaceutical groups behind the treatments claim that these reports have been few and far between and do not represent enough evidence to withdraw the treatment.

About 100 Australian citizens are suing the manufacturer of the medication after developing addictive behaviour including five West Australians who claim they became gambling addicts after taking the prescribed medication.

Aspen Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer Australia will have to face up to the charges and to defend their respective drugs, Permax and Cabaser. The victims, represented by Anne Shortall, are taking them to court over negligence, defective product and failure to warn of potential dangers as part of a class action.

Other similar cases have been reported in Europe and in the United States where the same treatment was given to patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease. One patient reported that he never gambled to any significant extent before taking the drug. He was happy putting on a bet on football every now and then or buying the odd lottery ticket. He became addicted to casino games after taking the treatment.

One of the drugs is still on the market and is now clearly labelled as dangerous with an explicit warning about the risk of developing obsessive behaviours. (The labelling has been recently changed and previous customers did not have this warning).

Many gambling addicts face up to their addiction eventually and come clean about what prompted them to step over the edge. However, the victims who took the medication for the disease clearly explain that they had no idea what was happening to them. In many cases, it is thanks to the support of friends and family that they were able to pull through and it’s only when the seriousness of the consequences of the treatment was revealed that they eventually understood the process that lead them to gambling.