1. Indication

2. Wonder drugs


3. Dopamine Hits


4. Big Pharma, Big Secret


5. Restless


6. Chasing Losses


16 February 2026


When Freddie's dad Bill is identified with Parkinson's, his medication provides him a new lease of life. He starts ticking things off his retired person pail list - taking a trip, skydiving, golf.


But then Freddie notices that his previously reasonable daddy has actually started behaving uncommonly.


BBC Investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge has actually spent more than a year talking to individuals whose behaviour changed radically after taking a category of called dopamine agonists.


These drugs improve dopamine activity in the brain - they were prescribed more than 1.5 million times in the UK in 2015 to treat Parkinson's disease and other movement conditions.


But they have well established adverse effects - around 1 in 6 people who take them establish impulse control disorders, which can consist of hypersexuality, binge consuming, compulsive gaming and shopping.


If these negative effects have been learnt about for decades, why weren't some clients and their households effectively cautioned or kept an eye on?