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Hard-hitting article in UK newspaper re benzodiazepines


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Article in UK newspaper Daily Mail.  Pamela Wilson is a buddy of mine online. 

 

Her story is truly horrendous, worse than mine.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4419540/Painkillers-sore-neck-robbed-27-years.html

 

She was prescribed valium for 27 years, then C/T by GP, after that 8 years of hell, there are one or two errors in the article about the number of years.  She continues to deteriorate year after year but you can read her story for yourselves.

 

Sorry about the words "addict" and "addiction" peppered throughout the article but the thrust of the article is correct. 

 

I will write once again to the newspaper about this but it just falls on deaf ears!!!! 

 

Please sign the petition to the Scottish Parliament .. we are trying so hard to ramp up the pressure here in all UK countries.  Note that Pamela is from Northern Ireland.  We need to put pressure on London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff.  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Hopefully someone from Wales will be featured.

 

http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651

 

Fiona  :thumbsup:

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I hate the comments Fiona, people are very quick to judge without even trying to understand the issue of prescription drug dependence. So many heartless people out there, very sad. 
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Yes, I was very upset about the comments and added my own. 

 

People are very quick to judge and condemn .. about all sorts of things.  Until something happens to them!!  >:( >:(

 

But we just keep ploughing on ... and as long as we know the truth ... that is the important thing.

 

Fiona  :smitten:

 

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This is a really good article and much more aggressive than usual in calling out the medical establishment.  This caught my eye:

 

"As these patients don’t look like homeless, destitute drug addicts, they may be seen as not really having a problem. With benzodiazepines they are often older women who are less likely to make a fuss, so they are ignored. There is also a sense that anyone addicted to these drugs should just be able to stop."

 

This made my blood boil!  But so on target.  Thank you for sharing.

 

XX

She

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My problem with the article is -- once again -- the incorrect and inappropriate use of the word "addict". I haven't read the comments, but if they ARE mean or judgmental, it could be because of that word. It implies a certain type of "drug-seeking" behaviour that contributes to the problem. If readers think that the person him- or herself is doing something improper, then they are more likely to be unsympathetic.

 

If there had been a clear explanation of the way the medications work in the human body -- and perhaps even a comparison to the effect of medications like prednisone (a steroid) -- then readers could learn what the difference is between "addiction" and "physiologic dependency" or "iatrogenic dependency". The drugs create an effect in the body. There are genetic factors too. Why not educate readers about these things?

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I totally agree, Lapis and some of us are starting to wonder what the Daily Mail is up to.  Is it ignorance, incompetence or are they deliberately muddying the waters.  I guess the campaign is about addiction and dependence and the Daily Mail can't seem to get it right.  I suspect it is just incompetence, they can't be bothered to get it right.  The piece by Dr Max Pemberton was the worst part for me.  He is just ignorant.  The Mail could have chosen someone else.  Fed up. Even considering withdrawing my story which is yet to be published by this paper.

 

And my TV interviews are now cancelled due to the sudden announcement of a general election here in the UK.

 

Fiona  >:( >:(>:(

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If the paper has a sensationalist bent, then that's the focus. Education is not the goal. It's such a lost opportunity. I do wish that one of the papers with higher standards -- on either side of the Atlantic -- would cover this issue appropriately. There IS an article from the New York Times from 2015, I think, that dealt more appropriately with the issue.
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How can we expect the general public to understand the difference between addiction and dependence much less iatrogenic dependency/addiction?  We here on the forum regularly disagree about these terms.  The average reader is not going to plow through a lot of technical jargon and highly scientific information.  Only those of us affected by this issue will do that - maybe.  Even though this article didn't get it exactly right, it did broach the subject and express dismay at how collusive the medical establishment has been in creating the problem, and not addressing it afterwards.  Small step, yes, but I think in the right direction.  Hopefully it will evolve from here to more general awareness and less judgement.  Here in the US, the awareness even on this level is absent.

 

XX

She

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I don't think it would take a lot of effort on the part of the paper to get it right.  They could describe the drugs as "addictive" which  they are and refrain from calling us "addicts".  And it is fairly easy to see the difference between a patient who takes a drug as prescribed for decades without ever craving that drug or wanting a higher dose and someone who is indeed addicted.  If the piece by Dr Max Pemberton had not been there, I would not be so annoyed.

 

Publicity is a double-edged sword. 

 

The British Medical Association has formally written to the Health Select Committee asking for an inquiry at some point in the next year.  If that were to happen it would be another step forward.  So maybe the Daily Mail doesn't matter so much .

 

Fiona  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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I think I was saying the same thing as Lapis before the post cross-fire  :thumbsup:

 

It seems to me that the message that NHS money has a role in creating "addicts" plays a big part in the scandal the Daily Mail is conveying. Quite the headlines... which is probably much easier than setting themselves the task to educate people ...which has probably never been the DM's goal anyway...

 

How disappointing that your TV interview has been cancelled, Fiona...!!  :(

 

...but wonderful news that the BMA has formally written to the Health Select Committee for that much-needed inquiry!! Now that would be something...  :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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You are right, Julia, there is a very powerful message there  :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

And so we keep ploughing on and hope for some action.

 

Health Select Committee at UK Government and

 

Petitions Committee of Scottish Government. 

 

That would be good.  :thumbsup:

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Indeed, there are millions and millions of drug seeking addicts who DO get their drugs of choice from physicians.  Either by deceit, using multiple physicians and aliases or by using doctors who are nothing more than glorified drug dealers who run pill mills for the $$$.  That dynamic is often in the news.  We here  have inadvertently (mostly) became dependent on drugs prescribed by  (usually) well meaning but clueless physicians.  Unfortunately, we are conflated with that first group and the general public tends to lump us all together in the same group.  That's where all the judgmental comments come from, that place of ignorance.  In a perfect world, the distinction would be understood by all.  We can only hope that process of understanding and awareness isn't just a pipe dream.

 

XX

She

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Keep in mind, too, that this is the paper that misrepresented Baylissa Frederick's story, and she brought a case against them. Personally, I don't agree that all publicity is good. Some of it is quite bad, in fact. Think of the current United Airlines story. Not good!

 

I also don't think a lot of technical jargon is required. It's an important distinction to make, and it's very much part of the story. If doctors prescribe medications without understanding how they work in the human body, then patients can be harmed by the very thing that's supposed to help them. You can use plain language to tell the story.

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Hi Fiona,

 

Thank you for posting this. Excellent article. So glad someone had the courage to put it out there. Every article like this can only help to shine the light on those who have been discarded by the professionals who have put us in this position.

 

Where I live, the topic of the news daily is how we need to help the heroin addicts. It makes me angry every time I see it and I doubt that will ever change. No news stories of the real hero's on BB's who had the courage to come off medications more addicting than illegal street drugs. Articles like this are greatly appreciated.

 

Thank God for BB's.

 

Hope you are doing a little better, and thank you again.

 

who-am-i xxx

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One of the big topics in medical news here in Canada is the opioid epidemic -- another problem caused by inappropriate over-prescription of medications that create a physiologic dependency and that have terrible withdrawal effects.  These meds are killing people at an alarming rate. I just posted some news articles from north and south of the U.S.-Canada border a few days ago.

 

I'd like to see the benzodiazepine problem taken as seriously as we're now taking the opioid epidemic. Do people need to die before attention is paid?

 

 

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I do hope the publicity will do some good.  The public may be more interested in the waste of NHS resources than the language used.  The NHS is collapsing here in the UK ...  and yes we have an opoid epidemic too, I am just not well-versed in that topic.

 

so we have mass prescribing of drugs that ruin people's lives and make them unable to work and reliant on social security benefits.

 

now we need research into the best ways to support withdrawal.

 

then we need programmes to help patients withdraw. 

 

Makes no economic sense whatsoever. never mind the human misery. 

 

Just a complete nonsense, such a tragedy.

 

And we can't recruit enough GPs to deal with the mess!!!!

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Keep in mind, too, that this is the paper that misrepresented Baylissa Frederick's story, and she brought a case against them. Personally, I don't agree that all publicity is good. Some of it is quite bad, in fact. Think of the current United Airlines story. Not good!

I also don't think a lot of technical jargon is required. It's an important distinction to make, and it's very much part of the story. If doctors prescribe medications without understanding how they work in the human body, then patients can be harmed by the very thing that's supposed to help them. You can use plain language to tell the story.

 

It depends on what we are hoping to achieve.  The United Airlines publicity was not good for the airlines, but good for the consumers.  Already United has reversed its policy of bumping ticketed passengers in favor of airline employees and crews.  Also they have promised to not use security and TSA to handle disputes like this.  Other airlines will follow suit I'm thinking.  To make an analogy, this type of prescribed drug publicity is very bad for the medical establishment and perhaps turning the spotlight on their cavalier prescribing and abandonment afterwards will help broker some positive changes.

 

XX

She

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Keep in mind, too, that this is the paper that misrepresented Baylissa Frederick's story, and she brought a case against them. Personally, I don't agree that all publicity is good. Some of it is quite bad, in fact. Think of the current United Airlines story. Not good!

I also don't think a lot of technical jargon is required. It's an important distinction to make, and it's very much part of the story. If doctors prescribe medications without understanding how they work in the human body, then patients can be harmed by the very thing that's supposed to help them. You can use plain language to tell the story.

 

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

It depends on what we are hoping to achieve.  The United Airlines publicity was not good for the airlines, but good for the consumers.  Already United has reversed its policy of bumping ticketed passengers in favor of airline employees and crews.  Also they have promised to not use security and TSA to handle disputes like this.  Other airlines will follow suit I'm thinking.  To make an analogy, this type of prescribed drug publicity is very bad for the medical establishment and perhaps turning the spotlight on their cavalier prescribing and abandonment afterwards will help broker some positive changes.

 

XX

She

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Yes, but an important difference is that people who do not understand the benzo issue wrote insensitive or judgmental comments after The Daily Mail article. They didn't rally on the side of the victims of benzo over-prescription as a result of reading the article. So, the article might not have helped the cause.

 

If people understand that the patients were harmed by the doctors' over-prescriptions and that the medications themselves work in a certain way in the brain that causes dependence and withdrawal, perhaps they, too, would be up in arms about it. They're not.

 

I really would like to see some quality journalism on this issue. It needs to be blown open here, there and everywhere. Around the world, many, many people take these medications. They're not killing people like opioids, but they're maiming and debilitating people.

 

I agree, though, that the publicity garnered by the United Airlines fiasco opened the door to important conversations and changes. But a man was seriously hurt in the process. It was unnecessary and harmful to him and his family. And the company has obviously taken a huge beating. Let's hope the eventual result is good, but it certainly doesn't entice me to travel. (I can't, obviously. Right now, I can't even walk. And now we're back to the original issue.)

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Lapis, your point is a good one and well taken.  There wouldn't have been the outrage over the United thing had there not been an injured passenger being dragged down the aisle with blood dripping down his face.  We are just as badly injured and more so, but there's no similar graphic illustration, no dripping blood, no unequivocal egregious violence that brings outrage and compassion to us is there?

 

XX

She

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No there isn't, She. You're right. I, for one, prefer not to put my story out there or to be in the news, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

 

But I also don't want to sue anyone or be publicly angry. I just want to get better at this point. What I WOULD like to see, though, is more doctors who acknowledge what has happened so that it's validated. And I want education for all concerned -- public health departments, doctors, pharmacists and patients. I think that's why it bothers me so much when inappropriate language is used in articles such as this one. If a newspaper has access to the larger public, then they have an opportunity to educate. I want to see that happen so badly.

 

No one would try to make Dr. Dao feel ashamed for what happened to him. But if you look at the comments on this Daily Mail article, people did that to Pamela. It's mean-spirited, but it's also a result of their ignorance of the facts.

 

 

 

 

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My problem with the article is -- once again -- the incorrect and inappropriate use of the word "addict". I haven't read the comments, but if they ARE mean or judgmental, it could be because of that word. It implies a certain type of "drug-seeking" behaviour that contributes to the problem. If readers think that the person him- or herself is doing something improper, then they are more likely to be unsympathetic.

 

I haven't read the article and based upon the comments here I don't see why I would want to. As long as the media continues to miss the mark by using the addiction label inappropriately none of this is ever going to change. I refuse to celebrate just any benzo article as a "victory" for us. These drugs have to be exposed for the damage that the drugs themselves cause, and as long as the word addict is being tossed around indiscriminately no one will care and they won't even try to understand.

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I took my son to a doctor yesterday who prescribed a muscle relaxer for his neck injury. I immediately asked if it was a benzo type drug or addictive.  He said no and then went on to say that he is well aware of how addicting benzos can be.  He said he rarely prescribes them and only for a day or two.  I told him I was glad he knew this and how many doctors I've been to that didn't know this.  I wish many more benzo knowledgeable doctors would speak out about this!  My son said he would do the physical therapy the doctor also prescribed but, wouldn't touch the medication.
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