A British man went to the doctor because of left leg tremors and was diagnosed with restless legs syndrome. The family doctor prescribed the drug Ropinirole, without mentioning side effects, one of which was impulse control disorder.
A 66-year-old British man who became addicted to sports betting because of a medication whose side effects he was unaware of prompted his family doctor to pay him compensation, his lawyers announced on Friday.
Born in the south of England, Philip Stevens was compensated not worth 70 thousand pounds, or 84 thousand eurosafter an amicable agreement, the lawyers explained in a statement.
The facts date back to 2017, when the sixty-year-old went to the doctor because of tremors in the left leg. The clinician diagnosed him with a restless legs syndrome.
Little known to the general public, it results in tingling and need to move your legsespecially at night, ‘poisoning’ the lives of people who suffer from it.
Your family doctor has prescribed Ropinirole, a medicine used especially against Parkinson’s diseasenot to mention the potential side effects, assured Stevens.
These include an impulse control disorder that can lead to gambling or compulsive buying behavior.
According to the law firm representing him, Stevens “during the four years he took Ropinirole, spent thousands of pounds on online gambling sites“.
Usually “cautious” in your sports bets“your gambling has become compulsive“, maintained the lawyers, for those who “bet everything they could and no longer cared about winning”.
In addition to sports betting, Stevens began doing “compulsive” purchases of fishing clothes and equipment.
Only in 2021, after a consultation with a neurologist, stopped taking the medication.
But a new nightmare begins. Compulsive shopping is followed by hallucinations, paranoia and depression, caused by abstinence.
“I’m no longer the same person I was before Ropinirole”, declared the interested party, quoted in the statement from the law firm representing him, which specifies that the financial agreement was concluded without the general practitioner recognizing his responsibility in the matter.
