A French appeals court has upheld a ruling ordering GlaxoSmithKline to pay €197,000 (£159,000) to a man who claimed a drug given to him to treat Parkinson's turned him into a 'gay sex addict'.
Didier Jambart, 52, was prescribed the drug Requip in 2003 to treat his illness.
Within two years of beginning to take the drug the married father-of-two says he developed an uncontrollable passion for gay sex and gambling - at one point even selling his children's toys to fund his addiction.
He was awarded £160,000 in damages after a court in Rennes, France, upheld his claims.
The ruling, which is considered ground-breaking, was made yesterday by the appeal court, which awarded damages to Mr Jambart.
Following the decision Mr Jambart appeared outside the court with his wife Christine beside him.
Jambart broke down in tears as judges upheld his claim that his life had become 'hell' after he started taking Requip, a drug made by GSK.
Mr Jambart began taking the drug for Parkinson's in 2003, he had formerly worked as a well-respected bank manager and local councillor, and is a father of two.
After beginning to take the drug he claimed he attempted to commit suicide eight times.
In total Mr Jambert said he gambled away 82,000 euros, mostly through internet betting on horse races. He also said he engaged in frantic searches for gay sex.
He started exhibiting himself on websites and arranging encounters, one of which he claimed resulted in him being raped.
He said his family had not understood what was going on at first.
Mr Jambert said he realised the drug was responsible when he stumbled across a website that made a connection between the drug and addictions in 2005. When he stopped the drug he claims his behaviour returned to normal.
Did he not tell his doctor for several years that he was all-of-a-sudden addicted to sex and gambling?
Maybe it’s just me but I would think “wow, this is unexpected behavior. Maybe I should talk to my doctor about my sudden urge for gay sex.”
I thought the Independent was better than this but this is the second awful clickbait article I’ve seen in the last day.
Do you really think the average person would think "oh, surely there's a straightforward medical explanation" instead of being ashamed & hiding the issue? Especially if they weren't informed of this being a side effect of their medication?
If it came on suddenly after taking the medication? Yeah. Absolutely. That’s actually what doctors are relying on, is being informed when things change.
It’s why the warnings for medications always say “if things change, consult the person who prescribed it.”
I have literally gone to the doctor and asked if my embarrassing side effect could be because of a medication. It was, so I stopped taking that medication. I didn’t wait several years.
How do you know it came on suddenly? The article says:
"Within two years" implies that it developed over this time frame. That's anything but sudden, especially since it most likely started off with sporadic impulses and got more intense over time - how addictions usually go.
So be honest - if you were a straight man, and one day out of the blue thought "hey, that strangers butt looks sexy", would you really suspect that the cause might be the medication you started 3 months ago?
Wow. Just... wow. A huge number of people all over the world struggle with addictions and go as far as committing suicide without ever seeking help due to the shame & prejudices associated with them, and your response is "those people are morons".
Wow.