Gambler’s addiction blamed on restless leg medication

A British man who became a compulsive gambler and shopper after he was prescribed a medication for restless leg syndrome has received a £70,000 (NZ$153,000) settlement from his doctor, his lawyers said on Friday.

Philip Stevens, 66, was prescribed Ropinirole – a dopamine antagonist medication – in 2017 but was not warned of known possible side effects such as impulse control disorder.

He had previously enjoyed going to horse races but had always been “careful” with his bets.

But after taking the medication his gambling “spiralled out of control” and he regularly made bets on his smartphone and even woke up in the middle of the night to place a wager.

He also started shopping compulsively for clothes and became obsessed with purchasing excessive amounts of fishing equipment.

“Over the four years that Philip took Ropinirole, he spent thousands of pounds on online gambling websites,” a spokeswoman for legal firm Leigh Day solicitors said.

“His gambling became compulsive, and he was betting on anything he could and stopped caring about winning altogether,” she added.

Stevens, from Hampshire in southern England, eventually halted the medication on the advice of another doctor, a neurologist.

His compulsive behaviours stopped, but due to not receiving advice on ending the medication gradually, he suffered serious withdrawal symptoms such as paranoia that saw him asking his children to take DNA tests because he had become convinced they were not his.

Lawyer Angharad Vaughan said she hoped “important lessons will be learned from this case to ensure that, in future, patients receive all the information they need about the potential side effects of such drugs”.

Leigh Day’s spokeswoman said the financial settlement was agreed without the doctor accepting liability.

– AFP

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