On ITV's "Good Morning Britain" this morning they featured an item about the pharmaceutical drug Ropinirole, and its 'side effect' - creating the need to gamble. The woman interviewed explained how the drug gave her an "irresistible need to gamble", which led to her accruing debts of (I believe) £70,000.
Many people will not know this drug despite taking it! Its more commonly known by its brand name, Requip. But, as usual, the same drug goes under many other different names. It is a dopamine agonist, used mainly for Parkinson's disease and restless leg syndrome. Wikipedia says that in 2022 it was the 163rd most used prescription drug in the USA. It was first approved for use (in the USA) in 1997.
I wondered if this 'side effect' was listed by the Pharmaceutical Medical Establishment; so I went to the Drugs.com website, as I have found this often provides the most comprehensive list of known side effects. The urge to gamble was not mentioned. Many other serious 'side effects' were listed and I have listed these at the foot of this blog below. So I ask the following questions.
- Would this patient have been warned about this possible 'side effect' before taking the drug? This seems unlikely, as it does not appear on the long list of known effects!
- Why can a pharmaceutical drug, which was tested, approved, and marketed for 28 years, cause 'side effects' that remain 'unknown' for so long?
- How can patients exercise 'patient choice' about whether to take pharmaceutical drugs if they are not honestly informed about all the possible 'side effects'?
- Can patients ever be safe when they agree to take prescription drugs approved by conventional medicine as "safe and effective"?
So should I retract my criticism? No! This raises yet more questions about taking conventional medical drugs, not least the lottery that patients face should they seek to discover the possible harm that a particular drug can cause. I have listed the 'side effects' outlined in the Drugs.com website below. The NHS website, above, does not list many of that very long list of known 'side effects'!
Why?
Just to confirm this point, take another look at the Wikipedia entry on Ropinirole.
In November 2012, GlaxoSmithKline was ordered by a Rennes appeals court to pay Frenchman Didier Jambart 197,000 euros ($255,824); Jambart had taken ropinirole from 2003 to 2010 and exhibited risky hypersexual behavior and gambled excessively until stopping the medication.
So excessive gambling was known about at least 13 years ago - yet it is still not mentioned by the Drugs.com website!
And risky hypersexual behaviour is not mentioned in either the Drugs.com, or the NHS websites!
Patient choice, and the decision about whether to take any pharmaceutical drug is impossible without full, reliable, honest and transparent information!
The Side effects of Ropinirole (Requip) according to the Drugs.com website
Confusion, dizziness, faintness, lightheadedness, drowsiness, falling, nausea, hallucinations, sleepiness, unusual drowsiness, swelling of the legs, twisting, twitching, or other unusual body movements, unusual tiredness or weakness, worsening of parkinsonism (!), bloating or swelling of the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet, blood in the urine, blurred vision, burning, pain, or difficulty in urinating, chest pain or tightness, chills, cold sweats, cough, double vision or other eye or vision problems, fainting, fear or nervousness, feeling of constant movement of self or surroundings, high or low blood pressure, irregular or pounding heartbeat, loss of memory, mental depression, pain in the arms or legs, pounding in the ears, rapid weight gain, sensation of spinning, slow or fast heartbeat, sore throat, stomach pain, sweating, tingling of the hands or feet, tingling, numbness, or prickly feelings, trouble in concentrating, trouble breathing, unusual weight gain or loss, vomiting.
