Mirapex and gambling. Doctor sues the drug company and casinos after losing $14 million:

Wells, a retired pathologist, was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2000, according to the lawsuit. After taking Mirapex for several months in 2004, Wells “developed an irresistible compulsion to gamble,” the lawsuit said.

Wells, who Thomas said had been an occasional gambler, lost several thousand dollars gambling in Las Vegas and on the Internet, according to the lawsuit. After he told his doctor that he thought Mirapex was causing him to gamble, his physician switched him to Requip and increased the dosage, the lawsuit said.

As Wells was losing $14 million “” which included about $1.2 million in IOUs called markers that Wells hasn’t paid “” his wife was unaware of his losses because she wasn’t gambling with him, Thomas said.

During the last week of January, Wells’ wife began to question him and he confessed to the losses, the lawsuit said. When his doctor took him off Requip, his gambling compulsion stopped, Thomas said.