When writing the government...

Hi Buddies

When writing the government about the dangers of benzos, how do we prove it? I can tell my story, but without evidence and substantial research, I feel like I'll just be labelled as "mentally ill" and discredited.

Has anyone written their government and given links to articles, research, etc?

I'd like to start drafting my letter and - if I can - make it into a template that I can just update and keep sending over the years.

Any insight would be great.

Thank you. Keep fighting 

Hi Buddies

 

When writing the government about the dangers of benzos, how do we prove it? I can tell my story, but without evidence and substantial research, I feel like I'll just be labelled as "mentally ill" and discredited.

 

Has anyone written their government and given links to articles, research, etc?

 

I'd like to start drafting my letter and - if I can - make it into a template that I can just update and keep sending over the years.

 

Any insight would be great.

 

Thank you. Keep fighting 

My own view is that writing the government is pointless.  But...

As a start, read Dr. Peter Breggin's books, go to his website, read the blogs, etc.  He is a GIANT in this field with sterling credibility.

http://www.breggin.com

Dr. Peter Breggin's books:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_13/184-7909595-0647753?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=peter+breggin+books&sprefix=peter+breggin%2Cstripbooks%2C341

Dr. Peter Breggin Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Breggin

Hi Donnie,

Here is a letter I recently put together to send to members of government, health"care" professionals, news agencies... Feel free to use it or a variation on it.  It's taken me years to get to a point where I could write my own letter without devolving into a rant.  It's not perfect, but it's something, perhaps a work in progress.  I used to use Dr. Jennifer Leigh's letter with permission, now I just used some lines from her Letter to All Doctors, which can be found here:  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=137575.msg1971945#msg1971945.  I don't think this is a futile endeavour.  I've also been sending in addition, as a separate email, the World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day Promo Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN7Ck4yzl4g

______________________________________________________________________________

Dear:

The dangers of benzodiazepines have been well-documented over the last 30+ years.  Yet, it is understood that many doctors are not educated about benzodiazepines.  Those of us who have been harmed by the prescribed use of benzos are hopeful more doctors will be educated so they can better help their patients and stop harming them by prescribing them beyond a few days. We hope too that more doctors will learn how to correctly and successfully wean their patients off of benzos.  Everyone has a role to play in this.

Benzos are indicated for short-term relief only (2 to 4 weeks)*, but are commonly prescribed for decades.  Many people taking a prescribed dose eventually develop health problems and then there is withdrawal.  Withdrawal symptoms can be so unbearable and unrelenting (months and years) that many are never able to get off them, some kill themselves, it is so intolerable.  Patients are blamed for their symptoms, further medicated… Suicide is blamed on “mental” illness, when the illness is iatrogenic.  This is the biggest drug dependency problem in the world and it grows by the day.

“The story of benzodiazepines has been described as a national scandal.  The impact is too big for governments, regulatory authorities and the pharmaceutical industry to address head on, so the scandal has been swept under the carpet.  Benzos are responsible for more pain, unhappiness and damage than anything else in our society.”

                                                                                        Phil Woolas, MP, House of Commons, UK

Resources:

-This is a good, comprehensive website: www.benzo.org.uk

-This a direct link to medical documents: http://benzo.org.uk/docs.htm

-For the best and most comprehensive information on benzodiazepine withdrawal:  "Benzodiazepines: How they Work & How to Withdraw" (The Ashton Manual) by Professor C Heather Ashton, DM, FRCP:  http://benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

My Name

45 months off of clonazepam, still recovering

*The Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK concluded in various statements (1988 and 1992) that benzodiazepines are unsuitable for long-term use and that they should in general be prescribed for periods of 2-4 weeks only: 

CSM: http://benzo.org.uk/commit.htm

RCPUK: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/treatmentswellbeing/benzodiazepines.aspx

Not to overwhelm you when you return to this thread, but here is another letter template posted by another BB that I remembered seeing in December.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=146999.msg1978306#msg1978306

Hope you come back and that you're doing okay.

Not to overwhelm you when you return to this thread, but here is another letter template posted by another BB that I remembered seeing in December.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=146999.msg1978306#msg1978306

 

Hope you come back and that you're doing okay.

Great! Thank you for the help 

I'm doing OK. Hope you are too!

Oh good, I'm glad you got it.  You're welcome.

I'm okay.  Hopefully tomorrow's better. 

To All BBs:

I've sent many, many letters along with the W-BAD video and received a welcome and prompt reply to one from a doctor- "Medical Health Officer" in my area.  I'll post it below. 

______________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your note. 

The XXXXX Division of Family Practice has identified substance use (including prescription medications) as an area that they are concerned about.  It is welcomed that we are able to openly discuss  issues that for too long have remained unspoken. 

I encourage you to speak up and share your story. 

Provincially, the Minister of Health as well as the Health Authority have also identified mental health and substance use as priority areas.  Voices from the community are often not said loudly enough to receive the attention that health care facility concerns receive. 

Please note that communications with my office are considered confidential and I am not able to share your communication beyond the general comment that I am receiving such correspondence. 

XXXXXXX MD MSc FRCPC

Medical Health Officer

XXXXXXX

XXX-XXX-XXXX

I don't mean to overtake your thread here Donnie, but this seems like a good place to put this. I've cited these in an early letter I sent to the psychiatrist who prescribed me these drugs.  These extracts from medical articles are hard to find on thebenzo.org.uk unless you know they are there.  They can be found under the "Stories" section at top of the main page and then under "Dr. Reg Peart" which is near the bottom of the page.

Extracts From Articles in Medical Publications on the Physical, Psychological, And Social Decline of Long Term Benzodiazepine Users By Dr. Reg Peart, Victims of Tranquilizers http://www.benzo.org.uk/amisc/rpeart.pdf

Here is his intro to the excerpts:

"As well as the articles listed below there are very many others on related aspects e.g., addiction and dependence, side effects and adverse reactions, cognitive damage, paradoxical reactions, increased risk of domestic accidents, industrial accidents, increased morbidity and mortality including attempted suicides and thousands of benzodiazepine related deaths as well as pregnancy and neonatal morbidity.

A complimentary list of extracts and articles is given in “The Benzodiazepines – Toxicity, Cognitive Impairment, Long Term Damage and the Post Withdrawal Syndrome” 2000 R. F. Peart (VOT). This list and that below contains many of the key articles on the nature and extent of harm caused by the benzodiazepines both during and after ingestion has ceased.

These extracts demonstrate that iatrogenic (medically induced) dependence on benzodiazepines can cause very significant physical, mental, and social decline that is at least as serious as other drug dependencies, e.g., alcohol and illegal drugs.  Benzodiazepine dependency is not benign as many incompetent doctors want to believe as an excuse for doing nothing about the problem.

These articles are little more than a cross section of many hundreds of others in the same vein. Over the last 2-3 decades many reports have appeared in the Western press and media on problems with the benzodiazepines.  The response of the medical establishment and pharmaceutical companies is largely one of denial and that the reports are “scaremongering” and exaggerated; the truth is that the information in the medical publications (from the horse’s mouth) is far more damning of the benzodiazepines and prescribers than any of the media reports.

In many ways the plight of the benzodiazepine “addict” is worse than that of those addicted to other drugs.  It is over 25 years since benzodiazepine dependency was established as a medically induced illness. Unfortunately, many members of the medical profession still do not understand it. Their failure to diagnose and treat benzodiazepine dependency is based on ignorance and arrogance.  Some have an instinctive desire to blame the patient and thereby condemn many to a life of incapacity, misery, and fear and others to suicide.  They have lost sight of the most fundamental principle in medicine – “First do no harm” – to the patient that is. "

edit:  fixed benzo.org.uk link, didn't work

I've revised this letter (and probably will again) I send to my gov't and added a couple new links  so I'm reposting for anyone who needs a template.  I remove "Why are doctors not being held accountable?" and  "This is simply negligent. " when sending to doctors and others in healthcare and I modify this sentence:  "Yet, it is understood that most doctors are still not educated about them." to the earlier version:  "...many doctors are not educated...." I don't want to piss them off before they get through the letter and hope some will get as far as looking at the links.  That is the hope.

______________________________________________________________________________

Dear :

The dangers of benzodiazepines have been well-documented over the last 40+ years.  Yet, it is understood that most doctors are still not educated about them.  Those of us who have been harmed by the prescribed use of benzos are hopeful more doctors will be educated so they can better help their patients and stop harming them by prescribing these drugs beyond a few days. We hope too that more doctors will learn how to correctly and successfully wean their patients off of benzos.  Everyone has a role to play in this.

Benzodiazepines are indicated for short-term relief only (2 to 4 weeks)*, but are commonly prescribed for decades.  Many people taking a prescribed dose eventually develop health problems (including gastric, neurological, neuro-muscular and cardiac problems). and then there is withdrawal.  Withdrawal symptoms can be so unbearable and unrelenting (months and years) that many are never able to get off them, some kill themselves, the degree of suffering is so intolerable.  Patients are blamed for their symptoms, misdiagnosed, further medicated… Suicide is blamed on “mental” illness, when the illness is iatrogenic.  This is the biggest drug dependency problem in the world and it grows by the day.  Despite the mountain of evidence (incl. from Health Canada, 1982), then why is this still happening?  Why are doctors not being held accountable?  Lives are being destroyed, including my own.  This is simply negligent.

“The story of benzodiazepines has been described as a national scandal.  The impact is too big for governments, regulatory authorities and the pharmaceutical industry to address head on, so the scandal has been swept under the carpet.  Benzos are responsible for more pain, unhappiness and damage than anything else in our society."                                                                                                          Phil Woolas, House of Commons, UK                                                                                                                                                   

Resources:

-Direct link to medical documents: http://benzo.org.uk/docs.htm,  http://www.benzo.org.uk/amisc/rpeart.pdf

-Canada Information:  http://www.benzo.org.uk/caninfo.htm

-Authoritative website for information on benzodiazepines: www.benzo.org.uk

-Comprehensive information on benzodiazepine withdrawal:  "Benzodiazepines: How they Work & How to Withdraw" (The Ashton Manual) by Professor C Heather Ashton, DM, FRCP: http://benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

My Name

-prescribed clonazepam for 20 years

-47 months off of the drug, still recovering

*The Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK concluded in various statements (1988 and 1992) that benzodiazepines are unsuitable for long-term use and that they should in general be prescribed for periods of 2-4 weeks only: 

CSM: http://benzo.org.uk/commit.htm

RCPUK:  http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/treatmentswellbeing/benzodiazepines.aspx

When I feel well enough, my plan is to write my state congressman who appears on tv advertising the dangers of prescription drugs.  The commercial is geared more towards only taking them as advised- I plan to tell him how destructive they can be even taken "as advised." 

I also want to write blue cross blue shield as they are paying 70% of my medical bills.  Can insurance companies require a signed consent form for these drugs before they pay?  Seems like a good place to start. 

Really good Sleepless  

Definitely a good idea to write Blue Cross Blue Shield, your congressman...anyone.  It sounds like your congressman is half-way there and so may really hear you about the dangers of benzos "as advised".  You never know who is really listening.  I think the more we educate people about these drugs, the better.  Sorry I can't answer your question about insurance companies, I'm in Canada.

Thank you for posting here and keeping this thread alive. 

More ideas for letter-writing buddies.  Though few have posted on this thread that Donnie started, it looks like it's getting read, so maybe it is of some use.  I don't know.

I recently sent a tailored version of my letter to the Registrar and Members of the Board of regulatory authorities of pharmacies in my area.  This is the unlinked link :bcpharmacists.org/board-members.  Maybe you have something like it your area.

This is the sentence I added to my letter (posted in this thread), plus a link to a document I included:

"Is your College not responsible for regulating the members of your profession in the interest of protecting the public?  You may find this document of particular interest, Addressing the Issue of Chronic, Inappropriate Benzodiazepine Use: How Can Pharmacists Play a Role? http://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/1/2/65"

Like most of you, my doctor (prescribing nor family doc) never warned me about the dangers of benzos or the necessity to taper asap and it surely would have been helpful if my pharmacist or  their assistants had warned me in the twenty years I refilled my prescription. 

edit:  edit everything due to ocd symptoms

I've also added some more personal content to some letters, depending on how I am feeling at the time:

I would have been spared years of mental and physical suffering, if at any point someone warned me about the dangers of these drugs and that tapering should begin asap.  Instead I learned the truth online after many attempts to quit abruptly (as I was told by my doctor I could at anytime).  I was misdiagnosed and prescribed more drugs to (unsuccessfully) treat symptoms that I learned five years ago were benzodiazepine withdrawal-related.  Without any help from a doctor I did a 15 month taper and the withdrawal and recovery has been nothing short of horrific. 

and I've added this:

"I have sent this information to hundreds of BC healthcare professionals and regulatory authorities and will continue to do so across Canada and the US.  I have also sent this to Members of my Local and Provincial Government and news agencies."

and revised this sentence:

"Despite the mountain of evidence (incl. from Health Canada, 1982), then why is this still happening?"  to  "Despite the mountain of evidence (incl. a 50-page document from Health Canada, 1982), then why is this still happening?" 

edit:  added "50-page document" and bolded it

A reply I received from a board member of the College of Pharmacists of BC:

Thank you for your letter

As a pharmacist, I agree many medications are over prescribed, especially benzodiazepines.  I will share these articles with the board

Frank

Sent from my iPad

Another reply:

Hello,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. It has been forwarded to the appropriate groups.

Best,

XXXXX XXXXX

Wellness Programs Coordinator | Wellness Centre | Student Health Service

The University of British Columbia | Vancouver

Latest revision of my letter and with lines added specifically directed to governing College bodies.

Again, I send this along with this W-BAD video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN7Ck4yzl4g, for greater impact.

______________________________________________________________________________

Dear :

The dangers of benzodiazepines/z-drugs have been well-documented over the last 40+ years.  Yet, it is understood that many doctors are not educated about them.  Those of us who have been harmed by the prescribed use of benzos are hopeful more doctors will be educated so they can better help their patients and stop harming them by prescribing these drugs beyond a few days. We hope too that more doctors will learn how to correctly and successfully taper their patients off of benzos.  Everyone has a role to play in this.

Benzodiazepines are indicated for short-term relief only (2 to 4 weeks)*, but are commonly prescribed for decades.  Many people taking a prescribed dose eventually develop health problems (including gastric, neurological, neuro-muscular, endocrine and cardiac problems) and then there is withdrawal.  Withdrawal symptoms can be so unbearable and unrelenting (months and years) that many are never able to get off them, some kill themselves, the degree of suffering is so intolerable.  Patients are blamed for their symptoms, misdiagnosed, further medicated.  Suicide is blamed on “mental” illness, when the illness is iatrogenic. 

I would have been spared years of suffering, if at any point someone warned me about these drugs and that tapering should begin asap.  I made numerous attempts over the years to abruptly stop taking them, as I was informed by my doctor I could do at any time.  Symptoms (withdrawal) were insidious and misdiagnosed.  I trusted my doctor.  I was told these drugs were safe. I was told I needed to stay on benzos and was prescribed more drugs that did not help.  I put two and two together five years ago when I learned the truth online and did a 15 month taper without any medical guidance, support or understanding.  The withdrawal and recovery has been nothing short of horrific.  Lives are destroyed by benzodiazepines, including my own.  This is the biggest drug dependency epidemic in the world and it grows by the day.  Despite a mountain of evidence (incl. a 50+ page doc. from Health Canada, 1982, sent to all doctors), nothing has changed.  It is simply negligent that doctors are not being held accountable.  Is The College of Physicians and Surgeons not responsible for regulating the members of your profession in the interest of protecting the public?

“The story of benzodiazepines has been described as a national scandal.  The impact is too big for governments, regulatory authorities and the pharmaceutical industry to address head on, so the scandal has been swept under the carpet.  Benzos are responsible for more pain, unhappiness and damage than anything else in our society.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Phil Woolas, MP, House of Commons, UK

Resources:

-Direct link to medical documents: http://benzo.org.uk/docs.htm,  http://www.benzo.org.uk/amisc/rpeart.pdf

-Canada Information:  http://www.benzo.org.uk/caninfo.htm

-Authoritative website for information on benzodiazepines: www.benzo.org.uk

-Comprehensive information on benzodiazepine withdrawal:  "Benzodiazepines: How they Work & How to Withdraw" (The Ashton Manual) by Professor C Heather Ashton, DM, FRCP: http://benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm

I have sent this information to healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities and policy makers across Canada as well as Members of my Local and Provincial Government and news agencies.   

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

-former MOA to psychiatrists x 18 years

-47 months off of clonazepam, still recovering

*The Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK concluded in various statements (1988 and 1992) that benzodiazepines are unsuitable for long-term use and that they should in general be prescribed for periods of 2-4 weeks only: 

CSM: http://benzo.org.uk/commit.htm

RCPUK:  http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/treatmentswellbeing/benzodiazepines.aspx[/

This is an inspiring campaign by lookingforward.  I come and go from BB so I missed it at the time it was posted.  I want to put Fiona's thread here so many letters can be found in one place if anyone needs help with a letter.  I couldn't calm down enough to write my own until recently and relied on others.

CAMPAIGNING AGAINST BENZOS

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=144688.msg1947769#msg1947769

Of course the hope is to educate the majority of doctors who don't already know the truth about benzos, but here are some replies I got from four psychiatrists who already do know.  I appreciated they let me know.  It's some validation.

Thank you for this detailed messsage. I agree 100% on this subject.

Bets regards,

XXXX XXXXX, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

Neurobiological Psychiatry Unit

Dept. Psychiatry

McGill University

1033, Av des Pins Ouest (room 220)

Montreal, Qc

H3A1A1

Canada

____________________________________________________________________________

Thank you! I don’t prescribe benzos. I highly dissuade use and try to get clients off them if they are using them.

Thanks for taking on this important issue.

XXX XXXX  [Child and Adolesc. Psychiatrist, Vancouver BC]

______________________________________________________________________________

I am painfully aware of you points.  No need to tell me. 

Kind regards,

XXX XXXX [Community Psychiatrist, Vancouver, BC]

______________________________________________________________________________

Thanks, I know.  Use Dr. Ashton’s site all the time.  Anything I can do to help?

Best luck for months 45-50!

XXX XXXX [Comm. Psychiatrist, Mood & Anxiety Disorders, Nanaimo, BC]

I have written to my PRÉSIDENT

Two months ago

No answer OF COURSE

BIG PHARMA SAID

TAKE YOUR FUCKING BENZO AND SHUT UP

AND DIE

I'm glad to hear you wrote your President.  Sadly, not surprised you heard nothing back.  I've heard nothing back from my government either.  Yet heard from a couple other governments.   As for Big Pharma, LOL .  Did they write you back?  I'm sure that's basically what they said.  Well, I'm not going to fuck off or shut up until there is some mainstream awareness or at least the medical community wakes up.  Good for you for going straight to the top.   

I have yet to write our Prime Minister, but because his mother is well-known for being "Bipolar" and has been very outspoken about this over the years, I've hesitated.  I don't think he'll be all that receptive.  Still, I will.

The recent positive developments in the UK mainstream media in regards to exposing the truth about benzos has reignited my fire and I've been contacting news agencies I missed the first time, so here's another Revised Letter for the record.  I'm adding more personal content with each revision that I was unable to do earlier.  That's been the hardest part for me.  If you are reading this, thank you, I know it's tediousness.  I want to share it in case it helps others to formulate a letter.  I will attest to the fact that this is NOT easy for some of, as you can tell from my many versions. 

Dear:

The dangers of benzodiazepines have been well-documented over the last 40+ years.  Yet, it is understood that many doctors are not educated about them.  Those of us who have been harmed by the prescribed use of benzos are hopeful more doctors will be educated so they can better help their patients and stop harming them by prescribing these drugs beyond a few days. We hope too that more doctors will learn how to correctly and successfully taper their patients off of benzos.  Everyone has a role to play in this.

Benzodiazepines are indicated for short-term relief only (2 to 4 weeks)*, but are commonly prescribed for decades.  Many people taking a prescribed dose eventually develop health problems (including gastric, neurological, neuro-muscular and cardiac problems) and then there is withdrawal.  Withdrawal symptoms can be so unbearable and unrelenting (months and years) that many are never able to get off them, some kill themselves, the degree of suffering is so intolerable.  Likened to heroin withdrawal, but worse.  Patients are blamed for their symptoms, misdiagnosed, further medicated.  Suicide is blamed on “mental” illness, when the illness is iatrogenic. 

I would have been spared years of mental and physical suffering, if at any point someone warned me about these drugs and that tapering should begin asap.  These drugs are so insidious it was hard to connect the dots and we trust they are safe.  We trust our doctors.  I was first prescribed Ativan (a benzodiazepine) for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, by my family doctor in 1990.  I was told I could quit taking them at any time and after many failed attempts to stop the drugs abruptly and a final successful attempt, I was in great distress and withdrawal symptoms were misdiagnosed by my family doctor and I was sent to one psychiatrist and then another where I was further misdiagnosed and prescribed more drugs (8+ antidepressants tried) that did not help.  Then clonazepam (benzo) was added.  Symptoms eased, but it was short-lived and I was never well again.  I was also told by the psychiatrist as that I could stop the drugs at any time (cold-turkey) and I tried many times over the years, which meant I was often unknowingly in a state of withdrawal/unwell in many ways.  And then I was told my symptoms meant I needed to stay on the drugs, that they were correcting a chemical imbalance.  I now know this to be a lie.  Benzos cause a chemical imbalance. 

5+ years ago I learned online that it was the benzodiazepine that was making me ill and  I brought my new knowledge and documentation to the psychiatrist, who said benzo withdrawal did not exist, that it was my own anxiety that we needed to explore.  I did not agree and he quickly turned his back on me, as did the doctors for whom I worked (also psychiatrists) and without any medical guidance I did a 15 month taper on my own, unsupported.  My employers were very fond of me, said they would call when I left sick.  They never called.  I know they know they’ve done something wrong.  This experience has all been a terrible awakening- to a medical community I thought was there to care for me or at least do me no harm and a withdrawal and recovery from a “medication” taken as prescribed that has been nothing short of horrific.

It has been 4 years and 3 months I have been off the drug and I continue recover slowly from the neurological damage.  However, I am still overwhelmed and crippled by  severe symptoms that come in unpredictable waves that prevent me from living a normal life.  I suffer physically, mentally and emotionally and all aspects of my life have been affected.  I am lucky though.  Many have lost their jobs, their homes, their marriages, their friends, their life savings, their lives...I  have only lost my job, decades of good health and friends.  Lives are destroyed by benzodiazepines. This is the biggest drug epidemic in the world and it grows by the day.  Despite a mountain of evidence (incl. a 50+ page doc. from Health Canada, 1982, sent to all doctors) how is it we find ourselves here?  Why are doctors not being held accountable?  This is simply negligent.

“The story of benzodiazepines has been described as a national scandal.  The impact is too  big  for governments, regulatory authorities and the pharmaceutical industry to address head on,  so the scandal has been swept under the carpet.  Benzos are responsible for more pain, unhappiness and damage than anything else in our society.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Phil Woolas, MP, House of Commons, UK

Resources:

-Direct link to medical documents: http://benzo.org.uk/docs.htm,  http://www.benzo.org.uk/amisc/rpeart.pdf

-Canada Information:  http://www.benzo.org.uk/caninfo.htm

-Authoritative website for information on benzodiazepines: www.benzo.org.uk

-Comprehensive information on benzodiazepine withdrawal:  "Benzodiazepines: How they Work & How to Withdraw" (The Ashton Manual) by Professor C Heather Ashton, DM, FRCP: http://benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm

I am sending you 4 more separate (for the purpose of clarity) emails containing information- "Benzodiazepine Medical Disaster"- a documentary, BBC Radio 5 Program, W-BAD Video, and a news article.

I have reached out to healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities, Members of my Local and Provincial Government and news agencies.  I have heard disappointingly little back. More needs to be done.  My hope is that the media and those in other positions of influence in our society will investigate and have the courage to speak out about the true nature of this worldwide medical disaster. 

Sincerely,

My Name

49 months off of a prescribed dose of clonazepam, still recovering from neurological damage

Former MOA to psychiatrists x 18 years

*The Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK concluded in various statements (1988 and 1992) that benzodiazepines are unsuitable for long-term use and that they should in general be prescribed for periods of 2-4 weeks only: 

CSM: http://benzo.org.uk/commit.htm

RCPUK:  http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/treatmentswellbeing/benzodiazepines.aspx

Hi Donnie,

 

Here is a letter I recently put together to send to members of government, health"care" professionals, news agencies... Feel free to use it or a variation on it.  It's taken me years to get to a point where I could write my own letter without devolving into a rant.  It's not perfect, but it's something, perhaps a work in progress.  I used to use Dr. Jennifer Leigh's letter with permission, now I just used some lines from her Letter to All Doctors, which can be found here:  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=137575.msg1971945#msg1971945.  I don't think this is a futile endeavour.  I've also been sending in addition, as a separate email, the World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day Promo Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN7Ck4yzl4g

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Dear:

 

The dangers of benzodiazepines have been well-documented over the last 30+ years.  Yet, it is understood that many doctors are not educated about benzodiazepines.  Those of us who have been harmed by the prescribed use of benzos are hopeful more doctors will be educated so they can better help their patients and stop harming them by prescribing them beyond a few days. We hope too that more doctors will learn how to correctly and successfully wean their patients off of benzos.  Everyone has a role to play in this.

 

Benzos are indicated for short-term relief only (2 to 4 weeks)*, but are commonly prescribed for decades.  Many people taking a prescribed dose eventually develop health problems and then there is withdrawal.  Withdrawal symptoms can be so unbearable and unrelenting (months and years) that many are never able to get off them, some kill themselves, it is so intolerable.  Patients are blamed for their symptoms, further medicated… Suicide is blamed on “mental” illness, when the illness is iatrogenic.  This is the biggest drug dependency problem in the world and it grows by the day.

 

“The story of benzodiazepines has been described as a national scandal.  The impact is too big for governments, regulatory authorities and the pharmaceutical industry to address head on, so the scandal has been swept under the carpet.  Benzos are responsible for more pain, unhappiness and damage than anything else in our society.”

                                                                                        Phil Woolas, MP, House of Commons, UK

Resources:

-This is a good, comprehensive website: www.benzo.org.uk

-This a direct link to medical documents: http://benzo.org.uk/docs.htm

-For the best and most comprehensive information on benzodiazepine withdrawal:  "Benzodiazepines: How they Work & How to Withdraw" (The Ashton Manual) by Professor C Heather Ashton, DM, FRCP:  http://benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

Sincerely,

 

My Name

45 months off of clonazepam, still recovering

 

*The Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK concluded in various statements (1988 and 1992) that benzodiazepines are unsuitable for long-term use and that they should in general be prescribed for periods of 2-4 weeks only: 

CSM: http://benzo.org.uk/commit.htm

RCPUK: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/treatmentswellbeing/benzodiazepines.aspx

 

Benzono Thankyou for yet another tool to help fight the good fight!                                                  (hugs) Reindeer

Just FYI...

I do NOT want the government, or the insurance industry, deciding what medicines or therapies my doctor can prescribe for me.

>