NHS patient awarded £70k after drug made him gamble

The NHS has paid out tens of thousands to a man who developed an “uncontrollable” gambling problem after he was given a common Parkinson’s drug, The Independent can reveal.

- REBECCA THOMAS

Philip Stevens, from Hampshire, has received £70,000 from his GP following a lawsuit after he was given the drug ropinirole, which led him to develop impulse control disorder that saw him spend thousands on gambling websites and expensive clothes.

The NHS lists impulse control disorder as a potential side effect of the drug. Patients are advised to contact a specialist nurse if they start “binge eating, gambling or shopping uncontrollably or having an unusually high sex drive”.

The 66-year-old was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995, and when his health started to deteriorate in 2015, he was forced to stop working.

Two years later, his GP prescribed him ropinirole for a condition called restless legs syndrome. However, they did not warn him of the potential side effects of the medication, Mr Stevens claims.

Mr Stevens had previously been a fan of horse racing but said he would only place bets where he believed he had a chance of winning and knew when to walk away.

However, shortly after he started taking ropinirole, Mr Stevens started showing signs of compulsive behaviours and started gambling more frequently and eventually “spiralled out of control”.