A HUSBAND suffering from a serious pain in the back has been acquitted from illegally possessing Pregabalin, sold under the brand name Lyrica, after producing a doctor’s prescription for the medicine.
The 35-year-old Kuwaiti was arrested after he was found with the substance at King Fahad Causeway in January and released from custody two days later pending the outcome of the court case.
The defendant, who is married to a Bahraini woman, was acquitted by the Lower Criminal Court after his lawyer Khalifa Al Shajera proved that his client has been prescribed it to treat a chronic back condition.
“The court found out that the drug found in the defendant’s possession was the same one his doctor had earlier prescribed,” read the court ruling. “Therefore, he was acquitted of the charge.”
Mr Al Shajera described how his client had suffered years of pain due to an injury. “My client had undergone an operation on his back,” he told the GDN. “He also had problems with his nervous system and was given a Lyrica prescription to treat the pain he suffered.
“He is married to a Bahraini woman and was arrested as he attempted to enter the country via the King Fahad Causeway to meet his wife and children.”
The medication is mostly used to help patients suffering from convulsions or nerve damage due to diabetes and spinal cord injuries by reducing the pain messages travelling through the brain and down the spine but is often sold by drug dealers, used recklessly by addicts and mixed with other illegal substances.
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