Married French Father Of Two Sues GlaxoSmithKline Claiming Parkinson’s Drug Turned Him Into “Gay Sex Addict”

A 51 year old French father of three is to take GlaxoSmithKline to court Tuesday, claiming that the British pharmaceutical company’s drug designed to treat Parkinson’s disease, Requip, turned him in a gay sex and gambling addict, reports AFP. Didier Jambert, a married father of two who says he has attempted suicide three times, contends that he became addicted to Internet gambling (losing the family’s savings and turning to theft to support the habit) as well as a gay sex addict, exposing himself on the Internet, cross-dressing, and engaging in risky sexual behaviour that eventually led to him being raped, all after being prescribed the drug in 2003. The behaviour stopped in 2005 when he stopped taking the drug, however, his attorneys, say, he had been demoted in his defence ministry position and suffered from psychological trauma, a result of his addictions. He is seeking over $600,000 in damages from Glaxo, accusing the company of manufacturing a “defective” drug and from his neurologist, who he claims failed to properly inform about potential side-effects. His attorneys said that Requip was known for years to possess a number of undesired side effects, but a warning on the packaging only appeared in 2006. Glaxo has refused comment.