National Class Action On Behalf Of Canadian Users Of Rexulti
Update: March 4, 2024 – A National Class Action has been authorized by the Superior Court of Quebec on behalf of all persons in Canada who were prescribed and used the prescription antipsychotic drug REXULTI during the Class Period starting from February 16, 2017 and who developed one or more of the following Compulsive Behaviours and Impulse Control Disorders: Compulsive Gambling, Hypersexuality, Binge eating, and Compulsive shopping and/or spending.
If you were prescribed and used REXULTI during the Class Period and developed one or more of the Compulsive Behaviours or Impulse Control Disorders described above, your rights are affected by this action. If you wish to remain in the lawsuit, you don’t need to take any further steps at this time. If you wish to exclude yourself from the lawsuit, you must deliver a signed Opt-Out Form by May 15, 2024 by courier, registered or certified mail, to Clerk of the Superior Court of Quebec, Montreal Courthouse, 1 Notre-Dame Street East, Room 1.120, Montreal (Quebec) H2Y 1B6 and reference Court File No. 500-06-000948-188.
Please see below for links to the relevant documents including the Opt-Out Forms in English and French:
Rexulti Long-Form Notice (English)
Rexulti Short-Form Notice (English)
Rexulti Long-Form Notice (French)
Rexulti Short-Form Notice (French)
Opt-Out Form (English)
Opt-Out Form (French)
Rectified Judgment Approving the Authorization Notices and Notice Plan – Feb. 29, 2024
On October 9, 2018, Rochon Genova LLP and Woods LLP commenced a proposed national class action on behalf of all person in Canada who have been prescribed and ingested the antipsychotic drug Rexulti.
Rexulti is the trademark for the drug, brexpiprazole. Rexulti was approved as treatment for schizophrenia in Canada in February 2017, and as treatment for depression in February 2019.
The claim alleges that Otsuka and Lundbeck – the pharmaceutical companies responsible for developing and marketing Rexulti – failed to provide Canadian uses with adequate and timely warnings about the increased risk of impulse control disorders and compulsive behaviours, such as compulsive gambling, compulsive shopping/spending, hypersexuality and binge-eating.
Rexulti is a partial dopamine agonist that is alleged to be substantially similar to the antipsychotic drug aripiprazole (marketed under the trade names Abilify and Abilify Maintena). Abilify and Abilify Maintena were approved in Canada in 2009 and 2014, and have also been associated with impulse control disorders and compulsive behaviours.
Otsuka developed Abilify and Abilify Maintena and has been commercializing and marketing them in Canada along with Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co. and Lundbeck Canada Inc., respectively. The claim alleges that the Otsuka and Lundbeck companies intentionally developed Rexulti to be substantially similar to Abilify, because Abilify was losing patent protection. The similarity in the chemical structures of Rexulti and Abilify/Abilify Maintena was noted in the Health Canada Summary Basis of Decision for Rexulti.
This action was commenced in the Quebec Superior Court of Justice in Montreal. Rochon Genova LLP and Woods LLP are seeking authorization of this action as a class action.
The claims have not yet been proven in court. For more information about this proposed class action, please contact Jon Sloan at 1-866-881-2292 ext. 2990 or [email protected]