A French court has ordered British
pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to pay $250,000 in damages to
Didier Jambart, who claims the manufacturer's Requip, also known as
Ropinirole, turned him into a gay sex and gambling addict.
Jambart, a 52-year-old married father
of two, began taking the drug in 2003 to treat his Parkinson's
symptoms. While taking the drug, Jambart claims he developed wild
urges for online gambling and anonymous sexual encounters with men.
“It's a great day,” Jambart is
quoted as saying by the AFP.
“It's been a seven-year battle with our limited means for
recognition of the fact that GSK lied to us and shattered our lives.”
Jambart said he became suicidal after
he gambled this family's life savings, and tried to kill himself
eight times. He also began cross-dressing. He said he was raped
during an illicit encounter he had arranged.
A 2010 study published in the Archives
of Neurology concluded that Requip can trigger impulse control
disorders in about 17% of people who take the drug. In 2006, GSK
added a warning label to the drug's packaging, a year after Jambart
stopped taking the drug.