Does anyone know of any legal cases against the pharma companies that make DAs?
Augmentation has cost me my sanity, my health and my business, it looks like I'll be having to sell the house to continue to afford to live, before augmentation began I was managing fibromyalgia by working around 3 hours a day.
I'd be up for contacting some UK based solicitors to see if there could be some kinda group case, but wanted to check here first.
Thanks
Good morning, Hazuki.
If memory serves, about 15 years ago--about the same time that Mirapex ceased distribution of Mirapex in the United States (TEVA did likewise when it became available in generic form) there were some successful class action lawsuits brought against the manufacturer/distributors of Mirapex in the United States based upon the potential for Impulse Control Disorders (excess gambling; adultery; viewing of "pornography," etc.).
Oddly, however, I never was notified of the pendency of any litigation. And, in my case at least, any "impulse control disorders" caused by Mirapex/pramipexole were not substantial enough to warrant further investigation by me. Significantly, as has been typically the case in regard to potentially adverse effects of RLS medications (including, e.g., Tegretol, a known teratogen), not a single "sleep expert" neurologist bothered to mention the potential for Impulse Control Disorder until just several years ago!
My current interest in litigation--and which I regularly contemplate--would be suing the manufacturers/distributors of Mirapex/pramipexole for the Hell that I went through while titrating off Mirapex/pramipexole after over 20 years use. Again, not a single "sleep expert" neurologist with whom I consulted mentioned Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome (DAWS) as a potential side effect of discontinuance of use--not even the SOB "sleep expert" neurologist under whose guidance I weaned myself off of this abysmal product during the first several months of this past year.
Some may find pramipexole a valid medication to treat RLS. I have no quarrel with that. However, I find galling that pramipexole is subject to less Federal and State regulation and scrutiny than some of the other RLS medications (including opiods) that, in my experience and opinion, are safer and more effective than pramipexole.
The distinction drawn between opiods and pramipexole (opiods are addictive while pramipexole and similar RLS medication only create "drug dependence") is--in my opinion-- utter nonsense. If one must take pramipexole for life lest they experience either Impulse Control Disorder or DAWS, I believe that the ease with which this poison is prescribed may need to be revisited.
Be well.
There have been several class actions in the USA against pharmaceutical companies for Impulse Control Disorder and one or two in the UK against doctors and neurologists for failure to warn about ICD.To my knowledge, there have been no cases yet for failure to warn patients about augmentation. But there should be.
I attach the UK legal case and you could contact the firm of solicitors involved to see whether they'd consider a no win, no fee case.
I'm sure other people who've suffered economic loss would consider joining you.
I definitely suffered psychological and physical damage but was retired when I went through augmentation, so no economic loss. The UK tends to favour monetary loss over mental/psychological stress.
kiteleys.co.uk/news/2015/06...
Good afternoon, Joolsg. And, though some may find this incredible, when Mirapex first was prescribed for my RLS (following Sinemet-induced augmentation), the "sleep-expert" neurologist expressly touted Mirapex upon the ground that, unlike Sinemet (converted directly by the brain into dopamine), Mirapex was a dopamine "agonist," and that, therefore, I would not have to worry about augmentation! Maybe that explains why, during the 18 years that I was under the care of that "expert," he never once again mentioned augmentation.
Hope you won't mind if I bootstrap an edit to my original post to this reply to yours. Minor typo: The manufacturer of Mirapex was named Boehringer Ingelheim, a German pharmaceutical company. Can you imagine me writing directly to the German company for the "Real McCoy" when I found that the generic versions of Mirapex (pramipexole) no longer were as effective? When I found that the patent medicine had become equally as ineffective, I continued with the lower cost alternatives.
Be well.
Sadly, augmentation has been known about since 2010 but most neurologists do not follow research updates. I'm sorry you suffered more year's of unnecessary suffering on Pramipexole.We just have to hope that we get the message through to ALL neurologists and GPs so they stop prescribing these drugs.
Sinemet ( Carbodopa/levodopa) is still being prescribed as a daily treatment by negligent doctors.
Paper on meds that help DA withdrawal
Has anyone successfully weaned off DA meds and feeling ok
THE WAR AGAINST PRAMIPEXOLE
How long do L-dopa withdrawal symptoms last? 
