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Abilify, clinically named Aripiprazole, has been prescribed to more than one million people to manage symptoms of acute manic and mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder, schizophrenia, and as an add-on treatment for adults who suffer from depression.
Upon the drug’s approval, sales of Abilify skyrocketed reaching nearly $7 billion per year during its peak. The problem behind these excessive sales numbers is that some patients who were prescribed Abilify began experiencing difficulties with impulse control, including:
- Compulsive gambling
- Heightened, even risky, sexual behavior
- Incontrollable shopping
- Addictions to food, sex, drugs, or alcohol
- Violent behavior
- Legal trouble
Identifying Troubling Behavior and Ignoring It
Impulse control alone is troubling, and can cause serious difficulties in day-to-day life, relationships, and work. But if a prescribed medication is causing these urges without warning, how do patients identify the source of their dangerous behavior?
That is the very question a judge faces while reviewing nearly 400 lawsuits against the manufacturers and marketers of Abilify.
Patients who were prescribed Abilify before May 2016 were never warned of the dangerous impulse-control side effects associated with the drug’s use. In fact, nearly 15 passed before a warning label was created to advise patients that the behavioral changes they may be experiencing could be caused by their medication intake.
Abilify Timeline
- November 2002
- Abilify is approved for use by the FDA
- October 2009
- Complaints of impulse control begin being reported by patients across the country
- May 2016
- FDA creates a warning label to accompany the medication going forward, outlining reported side effects of impulse control, with a focus on compulsive gambling
- September 2017
- Master complaint exploration is developed for review by a US District Judge from nearly 400 lawsuits reported
Why Isn’t Abilify Being Recalled?
Damage to patients’ lifestyles has been recorded in medical journals, physician reports, and most importantly in the homes of Abilify users throughout the United States. Many are asking, why isn’t the drug being recalled avoiding additional use?
Dr. Joseph Ross, professor of medicine and public health at Yale University reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in May 2017 that an investigation of drugs approved by the FDA from 2001 – 2010 revealed:
- 222 drugs were approved
- 32% had safety issues
- 61 received boxed warnings, which appear on the prescription bottle and on the accompanying drug and safety information
- 59 prompted safety communications delivered to patients
- 3 were withdrawn/recalled from use
Experiencing Impulse Control After Abilify Use? We Can Help.
If you or someone you know has been prescribed Abilify and has experienced impulse control problems, contact our Las Vegas, NV office today at (702) 505-8115. Our Abilify attorneys are available for a free, private, and confidential consultation that will help you understand how we’re fighting back against the pharmaceutical companies responsible for this drug’s existence.