Patient awarded £70,000 after developing impulse control disorder from common Parkinson’s drug

The Independent has reported that a patient has received a pay out of £70,000 from their GP after developing a gambling problem from being prescribed a common Parkinson’s treatment.

According to the publication, 66-year-old Philip Stevens developed an impulse control disorder after being prescribed the drug Ropinirole.

Impulse control disorder is listed as a potential side effect of the drug, and the reports say his disorder led him to spend thousands of pounds on gambling websites and expensive clothing.

Stevens has multiple sclerosis (MS) and restless leg syndrome, with the medication being prescribed by his GP for the latter. However, the patient was not informed about the potential side effects of the medication.

While previously enjoying horse racing and fishing, Stevens said these activities became an obsession following prescription of the drug.

His impulse control disorder did stop two days after stopping taking the medication. However, when he called his GP to say he was stopping the drug, he was given no advice on withdrawal symptoms, going on to experience five months of paranoia, hallucinations and exhaustion.

Stevens told The Independent: “The things that I once enjoyed that became obsessions, such as fishing and horse racing, are now joyless because, with each one, a sense of guilt overcomes me.

“I am not the same person as I was pre-Ropinirole.

“Along with the shame of my compulsive behaviour, [it] has mentally drained me and left me very withdrawn.

“On a positive level, my marriage has survived, and I am beginning to look forward more than backwards, and maybe one day I will believe that what happened to me was not my fault.”