麻豆社

When Freddie鈥檚 dad Bill is diagnosed with Parkinson鈥檚, his medication gives him a new lease of life. He starts ticking things off his retiree bucket list - travelling, skydiving, golf.

But then Freddie notices that his previously sober and sensible father has started behaving erratically.

For more than a year, 麻豆社 Investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge has been working on a story about people whose behaviour changed radically after they were prescribed a class of medications which boost dopamine activity in the brain. These dopamine agonist drugs were prescribed more than 1.5 million times in the UK last year to treat Parkinson鈥檚 disease and other movement disorders.

But they have well established side effects. 1 in 6 people who take them develop impulse control disorders, which can include hypersexuality, binge eating, and compulsive gambling and shopping.

Since Noel published an article on this issue he received more than 200 messages from people about their experiences.

If these side effects have been known about for decades, why weren鈥檛 some patients and their families properly warned or monitored?

If you have any concerns about medication you鈥檙e taking, speak to your doctor.

Presenter: Noel Titheradge
Producer: Lucy Burns
Editor: Matt Willis
A 麻豆社 News Long Form Audio production