Ropinirole: The Prescription Drug Blamed For Compulsive Gambling, Sex Addiction and Paedophilia

Patients using the drug ropinirole, which is under the brand name Requip, have blamed the medicine for causing uncontrollable urges to gamble, have sex, and engage in paedophilia.

The drug is prescribed in the UK to treat restless leg syndrome and Parkinson’s disease. Studies flagged the risk of increasing impulse control disorders in 2017. This was predated by reports as far back as the year 2000, when a 63-year-old man on ropinirole sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl and was imprisoned.

In 2003, the drug’s manufacturer, GSK, confirmed a link between the medication and “deviant” sexual behaviour. However, it has continued to be prescribed heavily. It is among the top 200 most prescribed medications in the U.S., with millions of prescriptions annually.

Its use in the UK is now under review after hundreds of reports that it has caused uncontrollable urges. Last week, the chair of the MPs’ Health Select Committee asked the UK drug regulator to review warnings about the side effects.

UK Users Racked Up Thousands In Debt

Emma was prescribed the drug in the UK as treatment for restless leg syndrome while she was pregnant. She told the BBC that taking the drug led to uncontrollable urges to gamble and lose £30,000 ($40,000).

“It’s ruined my life – we’re going to be in debt for God knows how long paying it off,” she said.

A study in 2023 concluded it was likely that ropinirole and another drug, pramipexole, caused problem gambling. A third drug, cariprazine, has also been associated with increasing urges to gamble and engage in other risky behaviors.

Philip Stevens was also prescribed ropinirole in the UK to treat restless leg syndrome that developed after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He said that over the four years he took the drug, he gambled away thousands of pounds.

Not only gambling, but he also experienced uncontrollable urges to take other hobbies to extremes, including going on fishing trip binges that lasted three days and buying expensive fishing equipment.

He stated, “The things that I once enjoyed that became obsessions, such as fishing and horseracing, are now joyless because with each one a sense of guilt overcomes me.” 

“I am not the same person as I was pre-Ropinirole. The withdrawal symptoms, along with the shame of my compulsive behaviour has mentally drained me and left me very withdrawn.”

He filed a complaint against his doctor over the drug and was awarded £70,000 ($94,000). In a press release, he took some comfort in the settlement, adding, “On a positive level, my marriage has survived and I am beginning to look forward more than backwards, and maybe one day I will believe that what happened to me was not my fault.”

GSK Facing Lawsuit

The BBC also reported that a Belgian court acquitted a man of the sexual assault of his four-year-old granddaughter. The court accepted psychiatric testimony that his behavior was linked to ropinirole.

A man in France has filed a lawsuit against GSK for failing to adequately warn patients of the drug’s side effects. The man says the medication destroyed his relationship with his partner, and he lost €90,000 ($106,000) to compulsive gambling and spending.

He is requesting damages and for the company to recognise liability. The judgment in the case is expected next month. GSK claims that its drug was extensively trialled, continues to be approved by regulators around the world, and that side effects are clearly stated.

The UK’s NHS website urges those taking the medication to contact a doctor if “you start binge eating, gambling or shopping uncontrollably or have an unusually high sex drive”, warning that “these are signs of impulse control disorder.”