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Partial Agonist Therapy in Schizophrenia: Relevance to Diminished Criminal Responsibility
Author(s) -
Gavaudan Gilles,
Magalon David,
Cohen Julien,
Lançon Christophe,
Léonetti Georges,
PélissierAlicot AnneLaure
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01483.x
Subject(s) - aripiprazole , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychology , impulse control disorder , dopamine agonist , agonist , dopamine , partial agonist , antipsychotic , psychiatry , neuroscience , medicine , pathological , dopaminergic , receptor
Pathological gambling (PG), classified in the DSM‐IV among impulse control disorders, is defined as inappropriate, persistent gaming for money with serious personal, family, and social consequences. Offenses are frequently committed to obtain money for gambling. Pathological gambling, a planned and structured behavioral disorder, has often been described as a complication of dopamine agonist treatment in patients with Parkinson’s disease. It has never been described in patients with schizophrenia receiving dopamine agonists. We present two patients with schizophrenia, previously treated with antipsychotic drugs without any suggestion of PG, who a short time after starting aripiprazole, a dopamine partial agonist, developed PG and criminal behavior, which totally resolved when aripiprazole was discontinued. Based on recent advances in research on PG and adverse drug reactions to dopamine agonists in Parkinson’s disease, we postulate a link between aripiprazole and PG in both our patients with schizophrenia and raise the question of criminal responsibility.