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 detected with Parkinson's, his medication offers him a new lease of life. He begins ticking things off his retired person container list - taking a trip, sky diving, golf.


But then Freddie notifications that his formerly practical dad has actually begun behaving abnormally.


BBC Investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge has actually spent more than a year speaking with people whose behaviour altered radically after taking a category of prescription drugs called dopamine agonists.


These drugs increase dopamine activity in the brain - they were more than 1.5 million times in the UK in 2015 to deal with Parkinson's illness 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 include hypersexuality, binge eating, compulsive betting and shopping.


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