'Prescription medication made me a gambling addict'

"I wake up in pain, but the pain is more comforting than what I went through."

Phil Stevens, from Hampshire, said he developed an addiction to gambling and spending after taking prescription medication for restless leg syndrome (RLS).

The 66-year-old has said he is now reluctant to take anything for the condition.

He claimed his GP did not warn him about the side effects of the drug and after taking legal action against his doctor he received a £70,000 settlement - but they did not admit liability.

The BBC contacted Mr Stevens' GP but they declined to comment on the case.

Mr Stevens was prescribed ropinirole in 2018.

It is a type of dopamine agonist, which is commonly given to patients in the UK with neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease and RLS.

Its side effects are listed in the medication leaflet and online but Mr Stevens said if he was warned directly about possible side effects he "would never have taken it".

Speaking from the home he shares with his wife in Ringwood, Mr Stevens admitted he did occasionally bet before he took the drug.

Over the four years while he was taking Ropinirole he said he found himself using gambling websites in the early hours of the morning and he spent all of his and his wife's savings.

"We had another house that we owned, that we rented out, and that was part of our pension plan but we had to sell it to get money back in the bank again," he said.

Along with the gambling, Mr Stevens also engaged in uncontrollable spending.

"In a short period, I spent £6,500 on fishing equipment," he said.

"None of it seemed wrong, that's the craziness of it, it all seemed so right at the time."

Mr Stevens also has multiple sclerosis (MS) and his family did not challenge him because they believed his changing behaviour was caused by this neurological condition.

He said it was not until he applied to take part in an MS drug trial that he realised something was wrong.

He said a consultant during the trial told him to stop taking Ropinirole "immediately".

Mr Stevens said he researched the drug online and found other cases where people had struggled with addiction linked to dopamine agonists.

Angharad Vaughan, a solicitor with Leigh Day, represented Mr Stevens when he took legal action against his GP.

She said the first case like this which she settled was in 2015.

"My hope is that these cases will shine a light on the issue and patient safety will improve as a result," she said.

Mr Stevens said he was not aware how much he had spent until he went through his accounts with Ms Vaughan.

"I just cried my eyes out, I just could not believe what I had done," he said.

Despite receiving a financial settlement, Mr Stevens said he was still living with guilt.

"All I ever wanted was an apology but I'm never going to get that apology, so I'll never get rid of the guilt," he explained.

Studies have found that 10-20% of patients who take a dopamine agonist, suffer from some form of impulse control disorder (ICD).

Julie Gould is from RLS UK, a charity that supports people with the condition in the UK.

She wants better training for doctors when it comes to RLS and is calling for dopamine agonists to only be used in end of life scenarios.

Dr Michael Mulholland, vice chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "Prescribing and de-prescribing are both included in the GP curriculum which all GP registrars (trainees) must demonstrate a competence of in order to practise independently as a GP in the UK.

"Restless leg syndrome will specifically be included in the updated GP curriculum, due to take effect from August 2025," he continued.

The ropinirole medication Mr Stevens took is sold under the brand name Requip and was manufactured by Glaxo Smyth Kleine (GSK).

A GSK spokesperson said "Extensive clinical trials and more than 17 million patient treatments worldwide since 1996 have continued to show Requip to be an effective treatment for Parkinon's disease and restless legs syndrome, with a well-characterised safety profile.

"As with all medicines, Requip has potential side effects and these are clearly stated in the prescribing information.

"Patients should only take Requip under the direction of a medical professional."

Reflecting on his experience, Mr Stevens said: "I'm not saying don't take it, I don't have any right to say that but what I would say, if you're in a position where a doctor was to prescribe you that medication, ask the questions, get all the information and then make that informed choice."

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