An Ontario man decides to file a class-action lawsuit against two drug manufacturers, claiming medication he took to control Parkinson's disease turned him into a compulsive gambler.

Gerry Schick is asking for millions of dollars in compensation from Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim accusing the companies of "aggressively" marketing the drug Mirapex "by understating risks associated with the use of the product."

The statement of claim filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice last week, claims Mirapex "has long been associated with compulsive/obsessive behavior, including compulsive/obsessive gambling, and has been identified as a cause for these behaviors in users."

Schick, 56, was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1996, and began taking Mirapex in 1999 to control his shaking and tremors.

In an interview, he said he became obsessed with gambling after he began taking the drug, "I spent every cent I could find: in the casino, or on Nevada tickets or scratch tickets. I had to spend it. I was looking for money anywhere I could find it."

Schick claims the gambling addiction cost him more than $100,000 and nearly destroyed his marriage.

However, he says he lost the unstoppable urge to gamble when he stopped taking the drug in January, "Now I don't have the problem with gambling anymore. It's over with. Now I can go into the casino if I wanted to, put $5 in the machine and walk out again."

According to Schick's lawyer, Alan Farrer, the class-action suit is modeled on a similar case involving Mirapex in the United States.