Pfizer Proposed Payout to Parkinson’s Drug Victims

Pharmaceutical company, Pfizer has offered a settlement to more than 150 patients of Parkinson's disease. The complainants claim that they have developed pathological gambling and increased sex drive after taking their prescription of the drug, Cabaser. The court will still have to decide on Pfizer's proposal.

In 2008, a class action was instigated and has been due for hearing in Australian federal court by 2015. The law firm Arnold Thomas and Becker handles the case. A representative from Pfizer Australia said that there would not be any further comments from them as it has announced its proposed compensation payout.

Cabaser, generically known as Cabergoline, is used to treat Parkinson's disease and restless legs syndrome by mimicking the activity of dopamine, a substance in the brain. The class action participants say that although they have never been compulsive gamblers, they started to have unrestrained urge to keep on gambling after taking the drug. There are scientific studies to prove that dopaminergic drugs can influence risk-taking behaviour.

The class action blames the drug company's negligence in selling medicines without cautioning the consumers about the side-effects. The patients recount how they have lost thousands of dollars on gambling after taking the medicine. Some have developed shopping binges and unusual sexual behaviour, not knowing that these were induced by the drug intake. Their lives were seriously troubled by the consequences of these uncontrollable behaviour. There were those who have gone bankrupt and had families ripped apart. It took several years before they realised it was the side-effects causing these. They noticed that the urges ceased when they stopped taking their prescription. More stories on these were reported on The Age.

Law firms and class action partakers are waiting for what the federal court has to say. Bill Madden, the national practice group leader for Slater & Gordon's medical law division, said there have been cases where settlements have not been approved by the federal court. He cited the case of the sleep medication Stillnox. "However, it would be good to see a case like this settled outside of court, because it would save everyone involved a lot of time and a lot money," he says.