Suppressed documents may lead to benzodiazepine class action lawsuits

"MPs and campaigners predict class action after failures to mount full-scale research into warnings left millions of patients at risk"

(article from The Independent, a daily newspaper in Britain)

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/drugs-linked-to-brain-damage-30-years-ago-2127504.html

 

"Pharmaceutical Scandal in Britain Sheds Disturbing New Light on Benzodiazepines"

(related article in Psychology Today)

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-effects/201011/pharmaceutical-scandal-in-britain-sheds-disturbing-new-light-benzodiazepine

 

Here is Christopher Lane's follow-up to his article in Psychology Today.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-effects/201011/brain-damage-benzodiazepines-the-troubling-facts-risks-and-history-minor-tr

 

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am DELIGHTED that these documents have come to light. I hope they are the smoking gun that British victims need to move forward with their class action. And, of course, I hope it ripples across "the pond."

Maybe, it seems to me with all the forums, stories across the Internet, and what have you.. the proof is already in the pudding..

 

Hopefully over time.. It will all surface.

 

Keryn.

Hi Vita - thanks for posting these - I surely hope that this will get out and about in this country.  I don't understand why people "in the know"

don't know about this - I wonder if they get paid by the drug companies to keep their heads in the sand?

 

Maybe, it seems to me with all the forums, stories across the Internet, and what have you.. the proof is already in the pudding..

 

Hopefully over time.. It will all surface.

 

Keryn.

 

What excites me about the story is hard evidence that suppression of the knowledge was intentional. I don't think we've ever had anything like that previously.

 

However, like you Keryn, I remain skeptical for our chances even with this "smoking gun." I'll believe it when I see it.

Vita:

 

Pretty important stuff.  Thanks for posting it.

 

Draftsman

Vita - read Sunny Daze' post called "Law Suit" (I think that's the correct title) in "Chewing the Fat" - vancouvergirl wrote a post on there regarding the impossibility of individual lawsuits.  A class-action suit may be different, I am hoping.  The US doctors/drug companies  will never be sued unless we can show DELIBERATE cause.

    Hoping2BFree

Vita - read Sunny Daze' post called "Law Suit" (I think that's the correct title) in "Chewing the Fat" - vancouvergirl wrote a post on there regarding the impossibility of individual lawsuits.  A class-action suit may be different, I am hoping.  The US doctors/drug companies  will never be sued unless we can show DELIBERATE cause.

   Hoping2BFree

 

These documents were deliberately sealed for 30 years. Why? I want them to be made to answer that question.  

Hi Vita,

 

Thank you for posting those articles. My reaction to them scares me. Anytime i see words like "brain damage" and "permanant" I freak out. I'm just over 7 months out now and I'm so frustrated and depressed. I'm not sure what to think anymore. I'm not sure what else to say. Yes, I want to be informed and always prefer fact, but the thought of having brain damage....breaks my heart and spirit

Hi Vita,

 

Thank you for posting those articles. My reaction to them scares me. Anytime i see words like "brain damage" and "permanant" I freak out. I'm just over 7 months out now and I'm so frustrated and depressed. I'm not sure what to think anymore. I'm not sure what else to say. Yes, I want to be informed and always prefer fact, but the thought of having brain damage....breaks my heart and spirit

 

Hi onmyway,

 

Here's what I think about the so-called "brain damage." I consider myself to be suffering temporary central nervous system damage. Given my history of long-term, high-dose usage and this being my second time around the block (the first time resulted in protracted withdrawal which caused me to give up hope and reinstate), I think it's possible that I may not see 100% healing. However, based on the stories of the many who've done this and recovered (including other "hopeless cases" who endured protracted withdrawal just as I did, but didn't reinstate), most people see 100% healing. Those who don't, the "permanently damaged," are still 95% healed. The damage they are left with usually takes the form of a sensitive central nervous system. Once they learn what things to avoid (certain medicines, supplements, etc.), they are for all intents and purposes 100% healed too. If this is my result, as I fully expect it will be, I will be OVER THE MOON with happiness.

 

You are not brain damaged. There isn't anything permanent wrong with you. You will heal. Everything you're feeling is the benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome and IT WILL PASS. This is not just glad talk. All those "hopeless cases" I knew are better now. They're why I had the courage to go through this a second time and the hope to hang in there, no matter how long my healing takes.

 

The only thing you should take from the articles is some righteous anger over actual proof of what we knew all along: Information was intentionally covered up because it would have cut into Big Pharma's bottom line. Hopefully they'll be made to pay BIG TIME for their "profits before people" business philosophy. Hopefully the British victims finally have some "teeth" for their lawsuit. Hopefully they'll win and it will be big news. And hopefully that will lead to safer prescribing in the future.

Thanks for posting this Vita.

 

Hopefully this will give big Pharma the punch in the eye they very much deserve.

Great Info! Thanks Vita!

Here are the actual documents that were suppressed courtesy of Ray Nimmo's site.

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/amisc/mrc82.pdf

Thanks for this Vita. Seeing these in real peoples handwriting just makes it so.........personal. So wrong. It brings me back to how could they do this when I see it in handwriting.

Hi Vita,

 

I agree with you in regard to "permanent brain damage", nevertheless, especially during the really tough times, when you read such things in an article in "psych today" (a reputable source) it is enough to scare me! It certainly does not help how you're currently feeling - like me -reading it while trying to cope with a freakin tidal wave of symptoms (mainly intrusive thoughts, anxiety, depression). I am happy the article was written and I am equally happy that you posted it although I am so mad and hurt that we all are inflicted by such a hideous drug. I know in life that it is a fact that sometimes "life isn't fair" well unfortunately we all can certainly attest to that. I remind myself of all the suffering in the world and it doesn't make me feel any better although it does help with perspective. This benzo thing could have and should have be avoided. I really do hope that the articles you posted make a difference for others.

 

Hope you are having a good day!

 

John

I'm not even going to read "Brain Damage" anymore, because it just causes things to be much worse, I'm going to taper off, go through it, and heal.. If there was "Brain Damage" from a Benzo then half the world would be brain dead.. because I can't name one person around me that hasn't taken a Benzo either for a day , weeks or years and became free and healed.. what is unfair is that most I know just cold turkey them and are ok.. don';t understand that, maybe they are stronger than me.. but I guess accept this phase and heal and move on..

 

K.

Thanks for this Vita. Seeing these in real peoples handwriting just makes it so.........personal. So wrong. It brings me back to how could they do this when I see it in handwriting.

 

I wonder who "they" even are. They don't seem to be the people who wrote those documents. I'm sure "they" have ties to Big Pharma, but I'd like to know their names, these individuals who decided to seal these documents until 2014.

 

Hi Vita,

 

I agree with you in regard to "permanent brain damage", nevertheless, especially during the really tough times, when you read such things in an article in "psych today" (a reputable source) it is enough to scare me! It certainly does not help how you're currently feeling - like me -reading it while trying to cope with a freakin tidal wave of symptoms (mainly intrusive thoughts, anxiety, depression). I am happy the article was written and I am equally happy that you posted it although I am so mad and hurt that we all are inflicted by such a hideous drug. I know in life that it is a fact that sometimes "life isn't fair" well unfortunately we all can certainly attest to that. I remind myself of all the suffering in the world and it doesn't make me feel any better although it does help with perspective. This benzo thing could have and should have be avoided. I really do hope that the articles you posted make a difference for others.

 

Hope you are having a good day!

 

John

 

I grieve for what I've lost. I grieve for the "death" of pre-benzo me, the lost years, the lost health and the lost opportunities. Like anyone who grieves, I'm working through the seven stages.

 

1. Shock and denial

2. Pain and guilt

3. Anger and bargaining

4. Depression, reflection and loneliness

5. The upward turn

6. Reconstruction and working through

7. Acceptance and hope

 

The only one of the steps that I'm completely past is shock and denial. My "joy" in this evidence coming to light is part of anger and bargaining. I want someone to PAY for what was done to me.

 

I do understand where you're coming from. I reinstated at 14 months out after my first time off because I thought I was "permanently damaged." A person who believes they are permanently damaged might not have sufficient reason to stay benzo-free, particularly if they think that reinstating could return to them some semblance of a normal life. This is what I believed when I reinstated.

 

A few important things to note about my story:

• Here I am doing this a second time, so reinstatement is never the answer. It's just a decision to go through this hell again.

• I was a long-term, high-dose user with a failed taper in my past. And my personal biology/genetics are different from yours or anyone else's. Just because I wasn't better at 14 months, doesn't mean you won't be.

• My friend, whose benzo story details are similar to m own, finally turned a corner at 18 months out. She and I were both SURE we were permanently damaged. We weren't. I reinstated. She didn't. She's recovered and living a full and happy life as I would be right now if I had stayed the course.

 

I'm not even going to read "Brain Damage" anymore, because it just causes things to be much worse, I'm going to taper off, go through it, and heal.. If there was "Brain Damage" from a Benzo then half the world would be brain dead.. because I can't name one person around me that hasn't taken a Benzo either for a day , weeks or years and became free and healed.. what is unfair is that most I know just cold turkey them and are ok.. don';t understand that, maybe they are stronger than me.. but I guess accept this phase and heal and move on..

 

K.

 

I know, Keryn. My sister-in-law just stopped Xanax after 30 YEARS of continuous usage. She's pretty much fine. No withdrawal worth noting. It makes it that much harder for my family to accept that what's happened to me is legitimate.

 

Perhaps if the British victims are successful with their lawsuit, there will eventually be an American lawsuit. The success of either suit would be BIG NEWS. If it's big news, then benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome will stop being the devastating health condition that no one's ever heard of. I'd like that.

Hi Vita,

 

This is exactly how I feel. I couldn't articulate it as well as you although i don't think you could have been more right on. There are times when I doubt this withdrawal and I talk myself into believing perhaps that it is "just me" and that it is the many mistakes i've made in life that have brought me to this place i dispise so much. Time and time again, I'll sign on and read some posts and i'll read something that assures me that it's not "just me" it's the drug. I havn't approached it from the "grieving" standpoint, makes a lot of sense to me.

 

Thank you,

 

John

 

"I grieve for what I've lost. I grieve for the "death" of pre-benzo me, the lost years, the lost health and the lost opportunities. Like anyone who grieves, I'm working through the seven stages."

 

1. Shock and denial

2. Pain and guilt

3. Anger and bargaining

4. Depression, reflection and loneliness

5. The upward turn

6. Reconstruction and working through

7. Acceptance and hope

 

1. Shock and denial

2. Pain and guilt

3. Anger and bargaining

4. Depression, reflection and loneliness

5. The upward turn

6. Reconstruction and working through

7. Acceptance and hope

 

Yes pretty much the phase I was talking about..

But I don't understand this, people say "The new me" ... Now I started tapering at 4mg of Klonopin, and now down to a lower dose of Valium, had to c/o.. I don't feel a "New me" just my old self coming back, old emotions so on, like before the Benzo, so what we're feeling really is just "Ourself" the emotions so on.. we felt before the Benzo suppressed it.. otherwise I don't get this "New Me" part as if one becomes a entire different person, that's what I can't figure out, I mean sure, I feel my old self coming back, is that the new me? Nah, I've been here all along, but the Benzo's were just suppressing my emotions, what one is suppose to feel anyway.. when completely healed, it all comes together..

 

I know, Keryn. My sister-in-law just stopped Xanax after 30 YEARS of continuous usage. She's pretty much fine. No withdrawal worth noting. It makes it that much harder for my family to accept that what's happened to me is legitimate.

 

Perhaps if the British victims are successful with their lawsuit, there will eventually be an American lawsuit. The success of either suit would be BIG NEWS. If it's big news, then benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome will stop being the devastating health condition that no one's ever heard of. I'd like that.

 

Vita, I know.. I know many people who just stopped and had no withdrawal.. I don't know, I guess we're all different.

 

Keryn.

Thanks for this Vita. Seeing these in real peoples handwriting just makes it so.........personal. So wrong. It brings me back to how could they do this when I see it in handwriting.

1) I wonder who "they" even are. They don't seem to be the people who wrote those documents. I'm sure "they" have ties to Big Pharma, but I'd like to know their names, these individuals who decided to seal these documents until 2014.

 

 

2)  A few important things to note about my story:

• Here I am doing this a second time, so reinstatement is never the answer. It's just a decision to go through this hell again.

• I was a long-term, high-dose user with a failed taper in my past. And my personal biology/genetics are different from yours or anyone else's. Just because I wasn't better at 14 months, doesn't mean you won't be.

• My friend, whose benzo story details are similar to m own, finally turned a corner at 18 months out. She and I were both SURE we were permanently damaged. We weren't. I reinstated. She didn't. She's recovered and living a full and happy life as I would be right now if I had stayed the course.

 

 

3)  I know, Keryn. My sister-in-law just stopped Xanax after 30 YEARS of continuous usage.

1) I wonder who THEY are too. This experience has open my eyes as I realize now I've been living in an idealistic world where this kind of thing doesn't happen. I would have conspiracy theory'd this deal had I heard it come out of someone elses mouth. This has not left me jaded, but, with a realistic awareness I need in life.

 

2)  I really appreciate you sharing your experience, I know this is off topic from the thread, but I want to say THANKYOU. It has helped me. I am 13 months and 22 days out, and have been in physical head symptom chronic with no window since day one. I was giving up hope until just recently. I wrote a thread in the withdrawal section not too long ago explaining it. It's only been the last few days where my visual fog is gone. Just grainey distortion. My high feeling is gone. Eye and head pressure down. I'm still chronic, but am now, FINALLY hopeful I will see a window soon. (Shakey from my body being tired. lol. ) You help me so much, with explaining where you were at and why you reinstated. I understand, as well I'm sorry you had so much going on you felt no other

option. It definitely takes some of us longer for no rhyme or reason. I can't wait for this to be over and done with for you Vita.

 

3)  30 yeas of valium and no noted withdrawal. Hard to believe. What makes this so different for us?

 

- on the thread note, I'd like to see the Brits successfully triumph with a winning lawsuit and it makes it's way across the water.

 

Thanks again Vita  

Hi all,

Thanks for the awesome articles which I printed and will watch for the results in the U.K. It is hideous that we have had to go through hell to make big Pharma and its stockholders rich. True Evil in this world.

Danny-o

Wow, yeah , I actually dug this up because my son just asked me today if there was some kind of a class action lawsuit possibility.

"any attorneys out there?"

Really

Hi what2do,

 

Go to this link and inside scroll just below halfway down under second paragraph in the "HISTORY" section and it explains the largest class action suit in the UK. Didn't win.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine   You'll have to copy and paste it in your browser.

 

As well, we were discussing this in Wendy B's thread a few down "has anyone contacted their local media" and I listed two others that tried to sue. One man won but you will see why, not through the courts. Another woman lost here in Vancouver just a few years ago. She tried hard.

 

Gives you and example of what we are up against. I do hope these documents can start something as you've said.

Yeah, I have tried contacting media, I just sent out another email today. I will check the links. somehow maybe a group of us can organise around one attorney. I am going to try calling 1 800 bad drug??

I went to the member list and there is well over 500 pages of members....so many per page....this is one of many forums dedicated to benzo withdrawal ....many voices in the desert....I'm seriously thinking of joining a class action group....these benzos screwed up my wife's life for many years and to find help was almost impossible....someone is going to pay and their  time is getting short....mr linn

nothing doing in the uk, check out the APPGITA site……  so disappointing

http://www.benzo.org.uk/appg.htm