Shopping, game and even cat torture. Nightmare with debt has destroyed the lives of many and has a culprit: Ropinirol.
Patients who took medications prescribed for movement disorders, namely the Restless leg syndrome (SPI)They are complaining of not being alerted by doctors about the serious side effects that led them to adopt risk sexual behaviors.
To the BBC, a total of 20 women said the remedies that were prescribed to them to treat the SPI – which causes an irresistible desire to move – ruined their lives.
A report by the GSK pharmacist, to which the British station had access, shows that the company became aware of 2003 of a relationship between prescription drugs and what you described as sexual behavior “outside the standards”. The report cites the case of a man who sexually assaulted a child while taking the medicine for Parkinson.
Although an explicit reference is not made to this side effect on the package leaflet, the UK regulatory regulator confirmed to the BBC that there is a general warning about increasing libido and harmful behaviors. GSK, in turn, says that the risk of “altered” sexual interest is also mentioned in the leaflet.
Some of the women who told the BBC to have been attracted to risk sexual behavior said they had no idea what it was causing it. Others reported feeling more willingness to make bets or purchases, without having any history of such activities. Because of this, one of the women accumulated debts of more than 178 thousand euros.
Like many women, Claire (fictitious name) developed SPI during pregnancy. The incessant need to move came often hand in hand with insomnia and a feeling of crawl under the skin. The condition persisted after delivery, and they revenue Ropinirol.
Now the patient guarantees that it was not warned by doctors about side effects. If initially the drug did miracles, the unpublished sexual impulses They arrived a year later.
“The only way to describe is that it was simply out of standards,” he says to the BBC. Started leaving home in the early hours of the morning looking… of sex. He did it regularly-despite being compromised-with a transparent top and shirt, and was displayed to any man who found it.
“There was still something in the head that says what you are doing is wrong, but that affects you to the point of not knowing you are doing,” he confesses.
“Ashamed,” Claire also says she took years to connect these impulses to the medication, but that the strange will disappeared almost immediately when she stopped taking the Ropinirol.
And Claire is not alone. The desire to get into the game and bets and increased sexual desire have long been listed as side effects on the agonist medicines leaflets dopaminergic ones, who activate dopamine recetors, a natural chemical in our brain that helps regulate movement -And it is believed to affect 6% to 17% of patients with SPI who take these medicines, according to Nice, British health orientation organ. For reference, it is considered that a “common” side effect of any medicine affects only 1% of people who take it.
The two strange cases of 2003
The cases that the 2003 GSK report described as “unlawful behavior” involved two men who took ropinirol to Parkinson. In one of them, a 63 -year -old man sexually assaulted a seven -year -old girl. The documents say that the perpetrator’s libido has increased significantly since the beginning of his treatment with Ropinirol, and that the “libido problem was later resolved” after the dose was reduced.
In the second case, a 45 -year -old man starred in “uncontrolled acts of exhibitionism and indecent behavior.” It was reported that his sexual desire had increased before Ropinirol was prescribed, but his impulses “intensified” after treatment.
The prevalence rates of these “outside the standard” sexual behaviors caused by drugs are not known, and tend to be Under -grave For those who experience the side effect, explains Valerie Voon, professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
“There is a lot of stigma and shame Associates, and people do not realize that this is linked to a medicine, ”says Voon, who believes that sexual behaviors – besides increasing libido – should be specifically alerted to patients, and analyzed by national health systems: their own Impact can be “devastating”.
It is believed that SPI affects about one in 20 adults, and women are twice as possible to suffer from condition than men.
The 20 patients with whom the BBC talked said that doctors not only not only informed them about potentially serious side effects of medications, but also not analyzed the impact of medication on their body later.
Before, even if Brad Pitt entered naked. After…
Sarah was 50 years old when she was prescribed from another similar drug from a different manufacturer.
“I would not have had no interest if Brad Pitt came into the room,” he says, “but the drug turned me to a fierce woman” sexually. Started selling used underwear and videos with sexual acts online and having sex by phone with strangers. It also started shopping compulsively, which resulted in 35,000 euros of debt.
To combat the effects of the drug, he began to self-medicate with opioid analgesics and sleeping medication. It was eventually hospitalized in a rehab clinic, lost the driving license and employment.
“I turned to things that were not healthy. I knew the behavior was not mine, but I couldn’t control it, ”he tells the BBC.
“It was horrible. Changed my life ”
A third woman says they have prescribed two different medications, but also not warned her of the side effects related to compulsive behaviors on either occasion. Sue says that he even mentioned the recent habit of making bets when the second medicine was prescribed – also she even accumulated a debt of almost 95,000 euros.
“The effect on my family was terrible – losing this money changed my life,” he says. “At the time, I didn’t know it was not mine.”
One collective lawsuit It was opened against GSK in 2011 by four patients with Parkinson, the BBC found.
The four complained that, despite a relationship between these behaviors and the drug was established in medical studies as early as 2000, GSK did not include any warning in the product literature until March 2007. Collective action was resolved by agreement, but A GSK denied responsibility.
It happened in France and the USA
Cases of serious side effects were also recorded in other countries, especially regarding the use of medicines for Parkinson.
In France, a court compensated a father of two children who complained that Ropinirol caused him compulsive homosexual impulseswhile another man without criminal record Cats began to torture.
In the United States, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that medications be used only for short -term treatments such as palliative care of terminal patients.
Many of the women with whom the BBC talked complained that prolonged use of medicines also The underlying SPI worsened. The dosage was increased, which in turn exacerbated compulsive behavior.
Neurologist Guy Leschziner says drugs still play an important role, but believes that pharmaceutical companies, health authorities and doctors should better alert patients about these side effects. “Not everyone is aware of the very drastic types of changes that can occur,” he says.
PHARMACEUTICAL DEFEND ROPINIROL
In a statement, GSK told BBC that Ropinirol was prescribed to more than 17 million treatments and underwent “extensive clinical trials”. The company added that the medicine proved to be effectiveand had a “well -characterized security profile”.
“Like all medicines, it has potential side effects that are clearly indicated in the package insert,” he added.
In response to his 2003 survey, which found a relationship with “out -of -the -standard” sexual behavior, GSK told BBC that it was shared with health authorities, and that it has undergone updates on package leaflet information – which is now list “Changed or increased sexual interest” and “meaningful concern behavior” as side effects.
Ropinirol’s current leaflet refers to changes in sexual interest on five occasions, warning almost exclusively on the frequency or intensity of such sensations, as potentially “abnormally high”, “excessive” or “increased”.
MHRA, the regulatory agency of UK medicines and health products, said that although there is no specific reference to “unlawful” sexual behavior in warnings, these impulses vary, and there is an overall warning about activities that may be harmful.
The agency also said it is important for health professionals to explain possible risks to patients – and that not all have these types of side effects.
The Department of Health and Social Assistance declined to comment.
