WebMD: "Doctors, Patients Struggle with Benzodiazepine Use"

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BIC's (Benzodiazepine Information Coalition) Nicole Lamberson is featured in this article along with a discussion about the Kaiser Permanente Washington state guidelines.

 

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20190516/doctors-patients-struggle-with-benzodiazepine-use

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IMHO ... Although the guideline referenced is OK from the perspective of people who are “at risk” of being prescribed a benzo for the first time, it has flaws from the perspective of members of this community (i.e. people who have been taking benzos as prescribed for longer than currently recommended).

 

I encourage all Buddies who fall into the “taken as prescribed” group - especially those who are also 65 and older - to do a close, careful read of the guideline so you can form your own opinion. Here’s a link:

 

https://wa.kaiserpermanente.org/static/pdf/public/guidelines/benzo-zdrug.pdf

(The author of the above guideline is The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington, a specific plan within the KP org.)

 

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It is encouraging to see that a lot of new benzo articles are moving away from the addiction narrative but they seem to be moving toward a benz/opiod narrative. That might eventually be a good thing for curbing the rate of new prescriptions but lumping our issues in with the opiod thing only serves to put us in the backseat and dilutes our message.

 

I don't know what the stats are concerning benzo/opiod overdoses or deaths but I would bet that the "other" benzo issues dwarf that.

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It seems BIC and other organizations can help with a broader narrative. Indeed I’m glad these organizations exist to help get our stories out. Unfortunately I don’t think the “other” benzo issues are researched well enough or even fully acknowledged for that matter. There have been overdose related numbers for opioids and benzos published very recently and opioids are definitely more deadly. Nothing about morbidity. I’ll look for those numbers in case anyone is interested.

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CDC numbers on drugs involving overdose deaths.  Alprazolam is pretty high on the list.  Benzos are almost always present with another drug if they're involved in an overdose death.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_09-508.pdf