"Drugs made me gamble"
7th April, 2008
A man, who just had a successful brain surgery to stop his compulsive gambling, feels he should sue the manufacturer that produced his prescription drugs, which he believes were the cause of his addiction.
Raymond Mandale, 58, a factory worker, gambled away £10,000 on gaming machines, when he decided to take drastic measures to stop his serious problem. He went as far as the six - hour brain surgery, which had successful results that made him completely free from his addiction. It worked as doctors implanted probes in his brain and wire them to a neuro-stimulator inside his chest. The surgery was carried out in Newcastle and cost the man £30,000.
Nevertheless, analyzing the development of his addiction he became very sure that the reason behind his sudden urge to gamble lied within the pills prescribed to him to treat his Parkinson's disease.
Before a year ago Mandale did not gamble once in any of the casinos or other available outlets. Then suddenly he started feeling an urge to come to the Opera Bingo centre in Workington, Cumbria, which is his home town.
Here is what Mandale said about what was happening to him then: "I begged, borrowed, stole and I lied. I was totally out of control for a year. I would tell my wife I was going round to the shops and I would be straight round to the bingo hall."
Nevertheless, Shaun Edwards, who is a hall manager there, said that Mandale was always "a happy customer and a regular customer' whose actions never gave any cause for concern."
Opposing this was Mandole's wife, Joan, who said that her husband's addiction has resulted in her being signed off work due to all the stress, caused by a situation.
"We are a close family and we have a strong marriage but it almost came apart. All I wanted to do was to stay at home and cry," she explained.
Mandale spent a lot of time thinking about the origins of such significant change in himself and became certain that the drugs he was prescribed to treat his Parkinson's disease had something to do with it.
"Sometimes in the mornings I would tell myself I had to stop but then I took my medication and all resistance ended," the man added.
It has been two month since the surgery and Mandale seems to have gotten rid of his problem completely, due to the electrical stimuli substituting the drug effect.
Mr. Mandale is now working on preparing a case against an American drug company that he feels caused his problem resulting in such severe consequences for him, due to forgetting to mention such side effects.
By Elena
