You know, I wrote about this before. Something about a TV commercial for "Restless Leg Syndrome" caught my eye... or ear. I'm not sure which.
Anyway, the short story is that the popular drug for a new "disorder" is linked to an increased tendency to gamble. I mean REALLY GAMBLE. Like calling an all-in with a gutshot draw.
Now, the judicial system is taking up our cause...
An Oregon woman named Christine Jaeger was taking a drug called Mirapex for her "restless leg syndrome." I'm not sure whether she was taking anything for "unkempt hair syndrome" or "sometimes feels a bit grumpy syndrome" but the restless legs were enough for a trip to the doctor.
Ms. Jaeger was a bookkeeper for a small business and started writing checks to herself. Then she'd cash those checks and head for, and lose at, the Spirit Mountain Casino.
Now here's where Mirapex comes in.
Check out this warning from the drugs manufacturers, "increased gambling, sexual or other intense urges." Methinks you may already see Ms. Jaeger's line of defense forming.
The judge in this case, unmoved by the terrifying precedent (if we can excuse a defendant's actions because a drug causes "gambling urges," I shudder to think what the "other intense urges" might explain) has now ruled in Ms. Jaeger's favor.
Here's her reasoning according to the website OregonLive, "The substances she was ingesting diminished her mental capacity in some fashion," Judge Steele said. "The breach of trust and multiple criminal episodes can all be laid to the drug issue."
See? I'm not a gambler. The drugs made me do it!
I don't have "restless leg syndrome" (although I'm sure I can fake it) but I'm now considering getting my own prescription for Mirapex.
Honey, I didn't take $10K to Vegas, Mirapex did.
See you at the tables...