All Blog Posts from Primary Source

While reporting our , we received a tip about a growing number of compulsive lottery players. We started calling around to certain convenient stores in the area and a clerk at a downtown shop said to come in and check out the rush for tickets...Here you can witness lottery addiction first hand. By 10:30 in the morning the line of people waiting to get their fix was out the door… Mostly cab drivers on break feverishly scratching tickets …Most losing and almost always coming back to gamble more dollars on their dream of hitting the jackpot. When asked why they continue to play…one receives a resounding “it’s addictive.”

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You might have noticed that a common television ad for restless leg syndrome (RLS) now includes an unusual side effect: gambling. That’s right, if you suffer from Parkinson’s or RLS and suddenly find yourself in Vegas losing money you might be able to blame the drug you take. As of August 4, GlaxoSmithKline added “gambling, sexual or intense urges” to its list of side effects in its television ad for its drug Requip. The company says the warning has been disclosed in its print ads since July 2005 but this week’s change to its television ad was in response to an FDA request three months ago. The FDA did not respond to requests as to why it asked for the change. But two research studies published in the Archives of Neurology since 2005 identify gambling addictions as one of the possible side effects of taking Requip or its competitor Mirapex made by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. Mirapex’s television advertising campaign already mentions gambling as a possible side effect.

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