FDA approved drug makes you hypersexual and a compulsive gambler!

On August 4 GlaxoSmithKline was forced to update its package insert for Requip, a drug used to treat restless legs syndrome (RLS) or, "jitters in the legs," which some claim isn’t a real disease. What is real, is that Requip also causes “pathological gambling,” and “increased libido including hypersexuality.” We know this because that’s what the new package insert says.

The GlaxoSmithKline package insert for Requip claims these unusual side-effects are a class effect, and says, “Impulse control symptoms, including compulsive behaviors such as pathological gambling and hypersexuality, have been reported in patients treated with dopaminergic agents.”

And  not only Requip causes these unusual side effects, but also that a former Pfizer drug, Mirapex (which Pfizer is letting Boehringer-Ingelheim market), can make your personality change overnight.

According to the Mirapex package insert, “patients taking certain medicines to treat Parkinson’s disease or RLS, including Mirapex . . . have reported problems with gambling, compulsive eating, and increased sex drive.”

So why didn’t anyone market this stuff?

Perhaps one reason for the drug companies’ hesitation is that, according to WorldLaw Direct, “at least 200 North Americans have contacted lawyers in California and elsewhere about joining class actions that allege Mirapex caused them among other things to gamble, shop, paint and eat compulsively.” And the lawyers are targeting Requip as well.

A report published on July 12, 2005 in the issue of Archives of Neurology details a study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic on the effects of Mirapex. According to the report, researchers discovered that dozens of patients using Mirapex or a similar drug had developed a serious gambling addiction.

But there is a marketing opportunity in every challenge.

So here’s our question for Pfizer:

When will a Pfizer attempt to combine Viagra with Mirapex?

This isn’t as far fetched as you may think. Remember, stiff erections were initially a “bad” side-effect of Viagra, which was developed to treat heart disease by increasing arterial flow in patients with angina.

- Peter Rost, M.D. is a former VP of Pfizer and the author of Killer Drug and The Whistleblower.

Comments

[Mirapex taker]

Oh brother. Where do I start.
I'm on Mirapex and before it took Requip.
Mirapex by my own and other patient's accounts is a bit more pronounced in effect due to increased Dopamine at the D4 receptor, or so my neurologist says.
Mirapex gives me random, rock-hard, 'afraid to get up from your desk like in 7th grade' erections throughout the day. I'm 36. It sucks. I get maybe 20 of these at work in 8 hours. Did I say rock hard? I mean hard as diamonds. Titanium. Wait it out and if the boss calls you in, say you have a leg cramp. This gets REALLY old REALLY fast.
Libido is somewhat increased under both drugs, yes, but it's different... in that it can strike suddenly. The article makes it sound like you become more horny. You don't. You can become more horny in a minute's notice totally out of the blue and you'll feel compulsed to jump your partner with NO warning. Too much of that can be irritating.
The gambling thing didn't happen to me, fortunately.
Mirapex has also increased my appetite... at night I feel like I have been on a freaking hunger strike.
This pill is too random to market it usefully for any of these side effects.

[Sunil S Chiplunkar]

Let us see the positives first. We appreciate that drugs are getting well researched including the side effect profile and these are presented to the public and healthcare professionals. No drug is free of side effects. It is here where the healthcare professional or the doctor's role comes in helping manage side effects through drug selection for the patient, duration of therapy and dosage titration.

Next it is unfortunate to see that in a bid to have patent ensured markets a lot of natural bioactives obviously nonpatentable are not being researched adequately and commercialized with gusto. This is in fact becoming the Achilles heel of BIG PHARMA. Recent failures namely, torcetrapib, rofecoxib and rosiglitazone,the shortening new product pipeline, and ever increasing costs of new product development should awaken the ivory tower managers and researchers to look for solutions beyond the trodden path. One way out is researching and marketing of natural bioactives based on usefulness and clinical data. This is where clinical trial development will play a role in strengthening consumption and better the topline and bottomline of companies.

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