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Toronto Star article about "Red-flagged drugs"


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Hi,

This investigative article from The Toronto Star (April 2014) discusses drugs that were reviewed by Health Canada for safety reasons. Apparently, the list of drugs was difficult to obtain.

 

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/04/12/star_obtains_list_of_redflagged_drugs.html

 

 

Here's excerpt from the article that pertains to benzodiazepines:

 

 

"It’s no secret that one of the 10 most-prescribed classes of medications in Canada has some issues.

 

 

Benzodiazepines, often called “benzos,” are a sedative-hypnotic group of drugs that treat anxiety and insomnia.

 

 

“They’re always on a watch list of drugs you should look out for for potentially inappropriate use,” said Steve Morgan, a University of British Columbia health economist who co-authors the Canadian Rx Atlas, an online compendium that analyses drug use and spending for more than 10,000 medications using data supplied by health-care market research company IMS Brogan.

 

 

Canadian doctors wrote more than 20 million prescriptions for benzos last year. Sixty-three per cent of the $336 million spent on these drugs in 2012-2013 was attributed to female patients. Bestselling generics include lorazepam, zopiclone and oxazepam.

 

 

“Long-term use carries significant risk of addiction, dizziness and falls,” Morgan said. “It becomes difficult to wean patients off. They’re a problematic drug class.”

 

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