Only lawyers experienced in Requip cases have the necessary knowledge to evaluate and litigate these complex cases.
Requip is a drug manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline that is used to treat patients with Parkinson’s Disease or with restless leg syndrome (RLS). It has been on the market for years; in fact the patent ran out in May of 2008 and there are generic versions of the medication now on the market.
For several of those years reports have been surfacing about a possible side effect of the drug that is highly unusual. Patients who have been prescribed the medication have reported an increase in compulsive behavior. Compulsive gambling has been one particularly high profile example of behavior alleged to be a Requip side effect.
Requip is a dopamine agonist. What that means is that the drug is designed to simulate the function of dopamine as a neurotransmitter. Dopamine acts as a communicator between one segment of the brain and another. At high levels, it can decrease inhibition and lead to pleasure-seeking opportunities (such as gambling) and when it is lower than normal it seems to slow reactive behavior. Parkinson’s Disease patients have abnormally low levels of dopamine and therefore lack some of the neurological functions that dopamine causes when acting as a neurotransmitter.
Requip is designed to replace that function for people with low levels of dopamine. It has proven effective in reducing the symptoms of Parkinson’s and in reducing the spasmodic reflexes that characterize RLS. It has also proven to have some unpleasant side effects such as nausea and dizziness that for some patients do not abate after the initial period of usage. It has also allegedly increased damaging compulsive behavior in some patients, such as excessive gambling, shopping or sexual activity.
A study recently presented at a medical conference described a study that looked at the effects of dopamine agonists on 3,097 patients who had been prescribed either Requip or a similar medication. It showed that 13% of the patients exhibited at least one of four impulse control disorders (ICDs). Those behaviors are gambling compulsion, compulsive sexual behavior, compulsive shopping and binge-eating. The study used a large sample of disparate age groups and found a significant trend.
It is also true, however, that Requip has been on the market for years – enough years that in May of 2008 the patent on the drug expired. It has been prescribed for tens of thousands of patients while the reports of compulsive behavior have been sporadic, until they were examined on a large scale in this recent study.
