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.
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?
This is so pedantic. Splitting hairs about “suddenly.”
Did he not tell his doctors for several years? Why not?
If I had an addiction that spiraled out of control that I tried to kill myself eight times in two years, I would have gone to someone and talked about all of my medications at length. Over and over again. Probably after the second or third time I tried to kill myself.
I wanted to kill myself for years, and guess what? I kept wondering what the fuck it was and kept talking to doctors about it. It was embarrassing but after decades of work I finally feel better.
Would morons do that? No. But I’m not a moron. I think the average person is better than a moron. You don’t.
This man didn’t, and that’s why he got a whopping 200k euros or whatever for living through hell. Because he apparently didn’t bother? That’s what I’m asking.
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.