Following the recent release of Radio-Canada Enquête’s Cauchemar Sur Ordonnance (Prescription Nightmare), an exposé that featured two members of our medical advisory board—Nicole Lamberson, PA and Dr. Jim Wright—there has been an increase in the…
Today, Benzodiazepine Information Coalition turned five. Looking back, I can’t believe how far we’ve come. Help us keep going. Celebrating Our Progress When I founded BIC in 2016, there wasn’t much out there. A lot…
Hosted by neuropsychiatrist Sotiris ”Pospo” Posporelis, this episode focused on benzodiazepines and featured Professor Edward K. Silberman. Knowing Dr. Silberman’s history, I was concerned that the podcast might result in spreading misinformation to prescribers and stigmatizing harmed patients. While the interview did get some important things right, my suspicions were ultimately confirmed.
Emily Laurence’s recent article, Do Prescription Sleeping Pills Actually Work?, appeared May 31 in the online outlet Well + Good. While I’m glad to see someone ask the question, the piece ultimately misses the mark, as it fails to warn about the most common issues with sleeping pill (benzodiazepine and Z-drug) prescription. It also ignores the dearth of literature about risk/benefit and harm and confuses physical dependence with addiction.
In 2017, Benzodiazepine Information Coalition initiated a campaign reporting patient harm to the FDA through their MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting System. Many of the Facebook groups and BenzoBuddies joined in. We shared our message far and wide,…
“Benzodiazepines help some people.” This common response to our message of patient harm prevention echoes throughout our online platforms. In some ways, who can blame these commenters? The opioid epidemic, to which the media frequently…
I can’t believe I have to say this, but brain and neurological injuries are not addictions. One way that benzodiazepine-damaged patients are silenced is by being forced to defend themselves against the addiction narrative that…
The Problem Mental health care is focused on improving quality of life and reducing suicide. Yet the current system seems unwilling to examine key factors that are causing suicide— taken-as-prescribed benzodiazepine patients die by suicide at alarming…
