Researchers say that drugs called dopamine agonists, which are often prescribed to people with Parkinson's disease, are linked to complete shifts in behavior in patients. Some patients have reported becoming compulsive gamblers, out-of-control shoppers, or sex addicts.
The team, made up of researchers from the Institute for Safe Medicine Practices, Harvard University, and the University of Ottawa, scoured 2.7 million reports of drug reactions from 2003 to 2012, stored in an FDA database. They found 1,580 adverse effects involving impulse control disorders, NPR reports, and 710 reports were linked to dopamine receptor agonist drugs.
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