Parkinson’s Drug Causes Gambling Habit?

READ MORE: Odd

File under: What the fuck? According to an AP wire story the Parkinson’s disease drug Mirapex has an unusual side effect in some patients, turning average tax-paying citizens with twitchy faces into potential stars of the reality show Intervention. Observe:

Joe Neglia was a retired government intelligence worker with Parkinson’s disease when he suddenly developed what he calls a gambling habit from hell.

After losing thousands of dollars playing slot machines near his California home several times a day for nearly two years, Neglia stumbled across an Internet report linking a popular Parkinson’s drug he used with compulsive gambling.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, this must be it,’” he said. Three days after stopping the drug, Mirapex, “all desire to gamble just went away completely. I felt like I had my brain back.”

A Mayo Clinic study published Monday in July’s Archives of Neurology describes 11 other Parkinson’s patients who developed the unusual problem while taking Mirapex or similar drugs between 2002 and 2004. Doctors have since identified 14 additional Mayo patients with the problem, said lead author Dr. M. Leann Dodd, a Mayo psychiatrist.

Parkinson’s Drug Is Linked to Gambling [Newsday]