Years ago, a friend of mine had to go into group therapy for what she called "Jackie Onassis Disease," otherwise known as compulsive shopping. (I must have been living in a cultural vacuum, as I never knew Jackie Onassis was a shopaholic.) I don't know if my old friend still suffers from this addiction, but if she does, she may soon be able to turn to a pharmaceutical cure. The drug, Nalmefene, was developed by a Finnish company, Bio Tie Therapies, to treat alcoholism, and has since shown promise in U.S. trials in treating compulsive gamblers. Scheduled to be tested on shopping addicts, Nalmefene also has potential for treating other compulsive disorders.

I wonder what the consumer credit industry is thinking about this (I personally think all credit cards should carry a warning like the Surgeon General's warning on cigarettes).

Via newlaunches.com (source: The Times of India)