Thomson Rogers has issued a national Class Action lawsuit on behalf of Canadians with Parkinson’s disease and/or Restless Leg Syndrome who allege to have developed compulsive behaviour, including a pathological gambling addiction, as a result of their use of the drug Mirapex, a dopamine agonist. The Class Action claim seeks millions of dollars in compensation from the Canadian drug manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd., and two American corporations.
Please note that anyone who started taking Mirapex AFTER July 27, 2012, is not eligible to participate in the class action (as they do not fall within the Court approved definition of a ‘class member’)–those persons may wish to consult with a lawyer in relation to any claims they may have.
UPDATE – May 21, 2015: We have been advised that the Administrator will be sending out cheques during the last week in May and that Qualifying Class Members should receive their compensation by June 5th.
UPDATE – February 18, 2015:
We are pleased to announce the Settlement Agreement has been approved by Order of the Honourable Mr. Justice Belobaba dated February 18, 2015.
To review the Order and the Endorsement, please click here
All Eligible Class Members (i.e. those that have already received a letter explaining what they will receive in compensation if the settlement is approved) need not do anything at all (your compensation will automatically be sent to you by the Administrator by the end of May 2015).
If your mailing address has changed, you may wish to contact the Administrator at [email protected] and provide them with an updated mailing address.
Class Members who may wish to appeal their compensation entitlement to the Administrator may request and obtain a copy of their claim file and may then file an appeal.
The deadline to request a copy of your claim file is Friday, March 20, 2015.
To request a copy of your claim file, you must complete and submit the Claim Form by Friday, March 20, 2015, to the Administrator as set out in the form. Please be advised that, depending on how you want to obtain your file, there may be a fee for the reproduction of your claim file.
The deadline to appeal is Monday, April 20, 2015.
For those wishing to file an appeal to the Administrator, you must complete and submit an Appeal Form by Monday, April 20, 2015. Please be advised that, on appeal, the Administrator may increase or decrease your compensation entitlement. And please note that to succeed on an appeal you must persuade the Administrator that Class Counsel has made a material error in relation to the evaluation of your claim. Lastly, please note that a $250 charge will be levied against any unsuccessful appellant.
We expect any appeals will be concluded by the end of April 2015. Once all of the appeals have been dealt with, funds will automatically be sent by the Administrator to the Eligible Class Members.
Again, Eligible Class Members should only receive compensation by the end of May 2015, so there is no need to call or email before then about the timing of payments.
UPDATE: The tentative Settlement Agreement will be considered for approval by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice at 10:00 am on February 18, 2015, at Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West, Toronto.
Click HERE to review the Court approved Settlement Notice.
If you have already submitted a completed Questionnaire as part of the Negotiation Process, you do not need to do anything further. A letter will be coming to you shortly with respect to your individual claim.
If you are a Class Member and have not submitted a Questionnaire then, as set out in the Settlement Notice, along with the required Doctor’s Letter you must do so prior to December 10, 2014, in order to be considered for compensation. If you fail to submit a Questionnaire by the deadline, you will be forever disentitled from making a claim for compensation (note that there is no guarantee that submitting a Questionnaire will result in any compensation).
Click HERE to review the complete Settlement Agreement (with all Exhibits).
Click HERE to see the Settlement Administration Guideline.
TENTATIVE SETTLEMENT IN MIRAPEX CLASS ACTION
Thomson Rogers is pleased to advise that a tentative settlement has been reached in this class action.
As this is a certified class action, any settlement proposal must first be approved by the Court. Accordingly, we are now working diligently to formalize an agreement which will be submitted to the Court for approval. More information will be provided on this website as soon as possible.
We know that you are anxious to learn the details about any possible settlement and, just as importantly, discover when the Court might consider approval and allow the release of settlement monies to eligible claimants.
Here is what we can tell you now:
The proposed settlement contemplates payments only to persons who began using Mirapex prior to January 1, 2007 (on the basis that warning information had been circulated and was generally available by then).
Persons can expect to recover a fraction of documented losses directly related to compulsive gambling. The numbers will vary depending on new claims coming forward.
Those who suffered life impacts from gambling and persons who suffered from other compulsions (hypersexuality, binge eating and excessive shopping) will be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering in relatively modest amounts, reflecting the many issues associated with proof and causation.
Direction from the Court will be sought so that a formal Notice can be circulated hopefully in the fall of 2014.
An Administrator will be appointed to assist in making final decisions regarding a claimant’s compensation.
A letter will be sent to all claimants who have provided materials to our offices providing further details as soon as those details are available.
Subject to the Court’s availability, we are hoping to have a Court review the settlement near the end of 2014 (or in early 2015) with settlement funds paid out thereafter (our best estimate would be that funds could be available in the spring of 2015 if the Court approves the settlement in a timely way).
UPDATE: An update regarding the outcome of the mediation in June of 2014 will be posted here within the next few weeks. Please wait patiently for that update.
UPDATE: A mediation in this matter has now been scheduled to take place on June 24 and June 25, 2014. We anticipate being able to provide information regarding the outcome of the mediation in early July.
UPDATE: The parties will be meeting near the end of November 2013 to discuss these claims. A further update will follow thereafter.
UPDATE: The deadline for the submission of Questionnaires under the Negotiation Process has now past.
We are in the process of sharing the information that has been received from class members with the lawyers for the defendant.
We expect to have meetings with the defence lawyers over the next several months to discuss the possibility of a negotiated resolution.
We intend to send an update letter to class members at the end of August 2013 and ask that you wait for our letter rather than call for updates.
We will also post any public update information here as well.
MIRAPEX CLASS ACTION CERTIFIED – NEGOTIATION PROCESS AGREED TO BETWEEN THE PARTIES
We are pleased to announce the Certification of the Mirapex class action by Order of the Honourable Justice Strathy dated July 27, 2012.
To review the official Certification Notice please click here.
We are also pleased to announce the agreement between the parties to develop a Negotiation Process aimed at determining whether the claims of Class Members can potentially be resolved without further litigation.
If you are a person resident in Canada (other than Quebec) who was prescribed and ingested the drug Mirapex prior to July 27, 2012 (a “Class Member”) and claim, as a result, to have suffered damages relating to an impulse control disorder (meaning pathological gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive shopping and/or binge eating) we strongly encourage you to participate in the Negotiation Process.
To participate in the Negotiation Process, you must submit a completed Negotiation Process Questionnaire to Thomson Rogers, by Wednesday, February 27, 2013.
Below you will find the following important documents:
- Order of Justice Strathy dated July 27, 2012
- Certification Notice
- Negotiation Process Questionnaire
- Negotiation Process Claim Form
If you intend to participate in the Negotiation Process and have not already been in contact with us at Thomson Rogers please contact us at 1-888-223-0448 for further information.
For more information.
If you’d like to learn more about this class action, please contact Darcy Merkur via e-mail or through our toll-free number 1-888-223-0448. Locally, in the Toronto area, you may call 416-868-3176.
If you are a user of Mirapex and wish to support the Class Action and be included in our Mirapex Class Action database, please fill out the form below.
PLEASE NOTE: FOR CANADIAN (NON-QUEBEC) RESIDENTS ONLY.
Residents of Quebec should contact Andre Lesperance, A Quebec lawyer, at 514-844-6958 to discuss your potential claim.