Some of the media outlets we have assisted…

OUR IMPACT

Our Vision

We seek to break the stigma and raise awareness around prescribed benzodiazepine injury, provide a voice to the patients who are suffering, and facilitate research and access to competent, evidence-based medical care for those impacted by benzodiazepine induced disability.

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& Publications

Speaking & Events

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Media Outreach

Selected media outreach. See more coverage, along with our podcast appearances, and media kit in our Press Room.

Press Room
Benzo nightmare: US doctor on a personal mission to highlight the dangers of the drug
Dr Christy Huff wants people to hear warnings she was never given, writes Margaret Jennings
www.irishexaminer.com
Inside CNN Benzos Report: The Next Big Drug Crisis?
Benzos are given out “like candy,” one doctor says.
www.westword.com
“This Is Life with Lisa Ling” The Benzos Crisis (TV Episode 2019) – IMDb
The Benzos Crisis: Lisa Ling delves into the world of benzodiazepine use and uncovers the troubling threat these drugs pose when used long term, and the challenges facing patients as they try to quit.
www.imdb.com
An epidemic — and it’s not opioids
Why is no one talking about — nor medical professionals addressing — the dangers of benzodiazepines?
www.heraldtribune.com
With benzos, a doctor discovers ease of dependency, ordeal of withdrawal
Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a four-part series on the role of sedatives known as benzodiazepines in the nation’s opioid crisis. Dr. Christy Huff, a Texas cardiologist, was prescribed Xanax after a dry-eye syndrome caused her eyes to “feel like…
www.gazettenet.com
I Tried to Get Off Ativan
And learned some dark things in the process.
www.vice.com

Our Programs

Ashton Manual Distribution Program

We adapted the Ashton Manual, one of the most important documents in the benzodiazepine literature, into several easy-to-share formats, including on our website, PDF, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes & Noble Nook. We share the manual worldwide for free. Through our efforts, the Ashton Manual is ranked the number one bestseller in both pharmacology and medication drug guides on Amazon. Get your copy here.

Benzodiazepine Action Work Group Colorado

We partnered with the Colorado Consortium to form the Benzodiazepine Action Work Group. Through this group, we develop programs and further awareness in Colorado. 

Websites and Blog

Our website provides educational information to millions worldwide. We also maintain a blog filled with original educational content. With millions of hits, we’ve provided valuable information to patients, providers, and the public. Our blog can be found here.

Benzodiazepine Aware Provider List

As access to a provider knowledgeable about safer tapering is a common challenge patients face, we maintain a list of medical providers worldwide that may be helpful to patients hoping to slowly taper off their prescribed benzodiazepine.

FDA Reporting Program

We collaborate with patient groups to ensure benzodiazepine harm is reported. Our program grabbed the FDA’s attention, and they ultimately issued a boxed warning in 2020 after making their own inquiry. Learn more about the new warning here. We continue to encourage patients to report their harm. The instructions to file a report can be found here.

FDA Tapering Guidelines

Some of our organization’s members serve on a patient panel, informing the guidelines with our lived experience. We hope that the patient voice will be heard.

Informed Consent Initiative

We advocate for an accurate benzodiazepine informed consent process to be implemented at the time of prescription and cessation. See our Informed Consent for more information. Members of our organization have testified in legislative efforts to support informed consent. Some testimony is available on our YouTube channel.

Language Awareness Initiative

An initiative to correct inaccurate addiction terminology in the media and medical community.

Media Outreach and Professional Speaking

We speak about prescribed benzodiazepine harm and related topics in the media, including print, video, podcast, and in a professional capacity at various events and conferences. To see some of our work, visit our Press Room and Events. A playlist of some of our podcasts is available on Spotify.

Research and Publications

We are collaborating on several research projects, including a study on developing a toolkit for safely deprescribing benzos and a series of papers reporting results from a benzodiazepine patient experience survey. Our past research can be viewed on Research and Publications.

Safer Tapering Awareness Initiative

We developed our own literature regarding safe benzodiazepine deprescribing and speak regularly about the importance of safer cessation. See resources and our impact for more information.

Social Media Outreach

We educate on various social media platforms about prescribed benzodiazepine harm. Our social media outreach program has provided information to millions. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Our Research and Publications

Enduring neurological sequelae of benzodiazepine use: an Internet survey – PubMed
These findings tentatively support the notion that symptoms which are acute but transient during benzodiazepine tapering and discontinuation may be distinct in their nature and duration from the enduring symptoms experienced by many benzodiazepine users.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Supporting safe and gradual reduction of long‐term benzodiazepine receptor agonist use: Development of the SAFEGUARDING‐BZRAs toolkit using a codesign approach
Introduction
Long-term benzodiazepine receptor agonist (BZRA) use persists in healthcare settings worldwide and poses risks of patient harm. Objective
This study aimed to develop an intervention t…
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Experiences with benzodiazepine use, tapering, and discontinuation: an Internet survey – Alistair J. Reid Finlayson, Jane Macoubrie, Christy Huff, D.E. Foster, Peter R. Martin, 2022
Background: Over 92 million prescriptions for benzodiazepines are dispensed in the United States annually, yet little is known about the experiences of those ta…
journals.sagepub.com
Risks and Benefits of Benzodiazepines
To the Editor The recent Viewpoint about the risks and benefits of benzodiazepines1 dismissed the alarming statistics that 12.6% of people in the US are using benzodiazepines (4 times the rate in other high-income nations), 17% of them are misusing these drugs, and benzodiazepine-related deaths have…
jamanetwork.com
Response to “Acute and Persistent Withdrawal Syndromes following Discontinuation of Psychotropic Medications” by Cosci et al. (2020)
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
www.karger.com
Hypnotic drug risks of mortality, infection, depression, and cancer: but lack of benefit
This is a review of hypnotic drug risks and benefits. Almost every month, new information appears about the risks of hypnotics (sleeping pills). The most important risks of hypnotics include excess mortality (especially overdose deaths, quiet deaths at…
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
How chronic administration of benzodiazepines leads to unexplained chronic illnesses: A hypothesis
It is thought that an ill defined biochemical cascade may lead to protracted withdrawal symptoms subsequent to discontinuance of routine use of benzod…
www.sciencedirect.com
Online Communities for Drug Withdrawal: What Can We Learn?
In this age of chat rooms and social media, an ever-growing number of psychiatric patients use the internet to find their treatment community online.
www.psychiatrictimes.com
Hidden Dangers Of Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics In The Benzodiazepine-Dependent Population
Whether it was for a sinus infection or bronchitis, most people have taken an antibiotic at some point in their lives.
www.benzoinfo.com
Position Statement On The Use Of Benzodiazepines In Patients Receiving Buprenorphine Treatment
The danger of combining benzodiazepines and opioids is well known.
www.benzoinfo.com
Psychopharmacology And Commonly Encountered Enzymatic Drug-Drug Interactions: Implications On Psychiatric Treatment And Psychopharmaceutical Discontinuation Protocols
It’s no surprise that drugs don’t always play together nicely in the human body.
www.benzoinfo.com
What do hypnotics cost hospitals and healthcare?
Hypnotics (sleeping pills) are prescribed widely, but the economic costs of the harm they have caused have been largely unrecognized. Randomized clinical trials have observed that hypnotics increase the incidence of infections. Likewise, hypnotics increase…
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
I petitioned the FDA to restrict hypnotics: here is why
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www.sciencedirect.com
Do hypnotic drugs cause cancer, like cigarettes?
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www.sciencedirect.com
“Rebound” is not an appropriate criterion for withdrawal insomnia
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www.sciencedirect.com
Hypnotics cause insomnia: evidence from clinical trials
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www.sciencedirect.com
Meta-analyses of hypnotics and infections: eszopiclone, ramelteon, zaleplon, and zolpidem – PubMed
Research is needed to objectively determine whether the use of hypnotics increases the risk of infections. Immune compromise or esophageal reflux and aspiration should be studied as possible mechanisms.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Possibility that certain hypnotics might cause cancer in skin – PubMed
Fifteen epidemiologic studies have associated hypnotic drugs with excess mortality, especially excess cancer deaths. Until recently, insufficient controlled trials were available to demonstrate whether hypnotics actually cause any cancers. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approval History a…
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Social Networking And Benzodiazepine Withdrawal: The Realities Of Dependence And The Necessity Of Support
Dr. Catherine Pittman, along with Dr. William Youngs and Elizabeth (Lisa) Karle conducted the first survey of BenzoBuddies members about their benzodiazepine experiences. Their survey and findings were reviewed by the Institutional Review Board at St. Mary’s College. Dr. Pittman presented their findings at the 2013 ADAA Conference.
www.benzoinfo.com
SAFE + EASY DONATIONS​

Support Benzodiazepine Awareness and Help Us:

  • Gain recognition of the existence and severity of prescribed benzodiazepine injury
  • Hold and participate in events to educate prescribers and the public
  • Push for policies that protect patients on benzodiazepines, whether they choose to remain on or taper off
  • Protect those presented with benzodiazepines as a treatment option by giving them true informed consent
  • Create more media awareness about this silent epidemic
  • Advocate for more prescriber training in safe prescribing and cessation
  • Fund research and show the need for future research that helps the harmed
Support Us