The drug, which the elderly Italian had been taking for five years, allegedly made him a gambler.
The Milan Court of Appeal ordered Pfizer Italia to pay half a million euros or around $600,000 including moral and economic damage for the side effects of Cabaser, a drug for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, which caused ludopathy (addiction to card games and roulette) in the 60-year-old Italian.
It is noted that the trial began in 2015 and a recent court decision upheld the first instance verdict.
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During the consideration of the case, it was proved that the man suffered from the side effects of the drug, which he took from 2001 to 2006.
The corresponding warnings appeared in the description of the medicine only in 2007.
The agency clarified that five years of taking Cabaser “turned the man’s life upside down”, turning him into an avid gambler.
During the specified time, he used 1802 disposable credit cards to play online, although he had never been interested in such things before.
The new hobby led to the victim losing his job, stealing 100 thousand euros from his company.
As the plaintiff told the judges, the first alarming symptoms appeared a few months after taking the drug – and then he began to play.
“I thought I was crazy,” the man said.
His lawyer, Renato Ambrosio, explained that the courts upheld the claim after two complex technical consultations with experts.
The decision was also influenced by the fact that important information about side effects for a long time was completely absent from the description of the drug.
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