Robert Johnson born in 1961 works as a civil servant for the MOD and is married with 3 children.
Background
I grew up in Walsall, in a very close, happy and stable family, Both my parents were capable cooks and I ate a lot of good food whilst growing up. I was always slightly overweight, however, I was active and so my weight never gave my doctors any cause for concern.
I was the first person in my family to get A-Levels and to go to university and when I finished University I started work with the MOD in Woolwich as an analytical chemist. I got married in March 1990 to my wife Judith and we have led a very happy married life ever since.
As the years progressed I climbed steadily up the career ladder enjoying more and more challenging roles, which included managing a team of 58 people, frequent travel, communication with all levels of the armed forces and public speaking. I enjoyed my work immensely.
Prescription of Acomplia ( Rimonabant)
As work and family commitments increased I no longer found the time to exercise, as I was either working or looking after my young family and over time I started to put on weight. By 1995, I weighed over 20 stone. My efforts in monitoring my diet only ever resulted in me losing a few pounds, although I stuck with it, as I thought that I might see results over a longer period of dieting. However by 1999, my weight had risen to 25 stone, even though I had been trying to monitor my diet for several years. I went to see my GP to see what other steps I could take to help me lose weight and in February 2008 I was prescribed Acomplia. I was positive about the thought that Acomplia might assist me to lose weight. I also bought a special treadmill for heavier people so that I could reintroduce exercise into my routine.
Onset of Depression
Things were going well at work and home and I was in line for a promotion. On 27th March 2008 I went into work and I was feeling fine. I was called into a meeting with my team leader and suddenly, out of the blue, I burst into tears for no reason. I had never cried in front of anyone at work during the entirety of my career and I have never broken down in front of anyone whilst having a casual conversation. This was the start of clinical depression that has ruined my life.
I became paranoid and plagued by feelings that I could not cope with anything, I would go to bed early and spend the night flailing around and crying loudly. Depressive thoughts that life was no longer worth living were acute in my mind. I could not go to work as I was too anxious to leave my house. If I did leave the house, such as for a doctor’s appointment, my wife had to accompany me. It was as though I magnified every minute problem in my head into a catastrophe which was unbearable. This was completely out of character for me.
I could not explain what was happening to me and all I could do was sob. I even thought that I needed to be locked away as I might try and hurt someone and then try to kill myself. My thought processes were dominated by the worry that I could not carry on like this and that I would be better off dead.
Anti-depressants and counselling did not help me. The occupational health adviser at work arranged that I should go for some cognitive behavioural therapy. My therapists were trying to get to the bottom of what had happened to me, however they were unaware that it was the Acomplia that had caused my psychiatric breakdown. As such, both my therapist and I would blame certain aspects of my life for the way I was feeling during our sessions, such as stress at work.
On a visit to the GP at the end of April 2008, my doctor told me that he had received a letter from NICE or the BMA stating that on no account should Acomplia be co-prescribed with anti-depressants. She also said that she had been informed that there were some reports of Acomplia users developing psychiatric side effects whilst taking it. My GP therefore took me off Acomplia immediately and continued to prescribe me anti-depressants whilst also referring me for counselling.
Decision to take legal action
Prior to taking Acomplia, I was a confident, ambitious individual. Although things have improved, I am now a shell of my former self. Living my life has become very difficult and it has made the future very uncertain. I have therefore taken the decision to take legal action. Like others who believe they have experienced this as a side effect of taking Acomplia I have appointed Leigh Day & Co to seek compensation on my behalf.
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