Two Doctors Speak out
against Benzos from The Oldham Chronicle, For short-term use only . . . Dr Ian Telfer
Monday, September 4, 2000
A consultant psychiatrist speaks out against the
irresponsible prescription of benzodiazepines
BENZODIAZEPINE That is the opinion of Dr Ian Telfer, He blamed irresponsible prescribing for leaving today's doctors dealing with But, he said, it was only in 1996 that drugs companies which The move formed the basis for a huge legal case in the 1990s against the The case was unsuccessful for a number of legal reasons, People who stopped taking the drugs were reporting withdrawal symptoms of Dr Telfer believes benzodiazepines should not be prescribed for such symptoms.
"They will not deal with the root cause of the symptoms," he explained.
"They should only be used for a short duration for "They have no role at all for the chronically anxious, "What they are useful for are such things as fear of flying, Dr Telfer believes they are useful to help people cope with What they should not be used for, he said, Dr Telfer has been involved in organising training sessions for Oldham GPs, "They effectively led to a number of GPs changing their prescribing patterns," he said.
Dr Telfer also highlighted the problem of benzodiazepines being sold illegally on the black market.
He has made a study of people who have died from The two main ways they could have got them are from Amsterdam, “What we are trying to do in Oldham, and with some success,
drugs have a part to play in medicine,
but a limited one only—helping people suffering from
short-term emotional problems triggered by a definite reason.
consultant psychiatrist in substance misuse for West Pennine Health Authority,
who is using his expert knowledge to help Oldham's GPs tackle the problem.
the problems caused by long-term use of benzodiazepine drugs.
produce benzodiazepines included references in their product data sheets
- an owners' manual for doctors—that they were highly addictive.
drug companies involved, brought by benzodiazepine users who
claimed the drugs' addictive nature had been known about since 1979.
but it did highlight the extent of the problem in Britain.
anxiety, depression, sleeping problems and obsessive compulsive disorder
—the very things for which they had benzodiazepines prescribed them
in the first place—but now of a greater degree.
specific problems of a severity requiring medication.
for they only suppress what is taking place,
and that will come back if the drugs are stopped.
when to take Ativan before getting on the plane
to allow you to do that is fine."
a very definite short-term problem in life that hinders sleep—such as
a traumatic house move, an exam or an interview.
were events such as bereavements, where they interfere with
the grieving and healing process and can cause longer-term problems.
"When they first came out they were seen as some sort of
panacea—or universal remedy," he explained.
"But with constant use it was found they
turned people into zombies in the end."
where issues surrounding the use of benzodiazepines are discussed.
overdose of substances such as heroin and methadone,
and said almost all also had large amounts of benzodiazepines
in their system but few had ever been legitimately prescribed them.
where drugs laws are more lax, or from people who have been
prescribed benzodiazepines by their GP and sold them on.
is to effectively turn off the tap by deterring initial use
of benzodiazepines to avert long-term prescriptions,” said Dr Telfer.
Doctor’s Mission Offers Lifeline to Oldham Addicts
Dr Rakesh Kohli
A ROYTON GP is leading a campaign to slash the number of Dr Rakesh Kohli is the driving force behind a new scheme to offer As a member of Oldham West Primary Care Group—covering Patients are being invited into their GP's surgery and It is known that thousands of people It is impossible to say how many addicts there are However, in February this year GPs in Oldham West issued 3,900 benzodiazepine prescriptions, Dr Kohli says the success of the scheme to fight addiction, Urging regular users to go to their GP and ask for help to stop, he said: "It will be a slow process to reduce them because of the effects, "There are a lot of elderly people taking benzodiazepines which were "When taken long-term they can cause confusion and loss of balance, "There are alternative drugs we can use, and if benzodiazepines are prescribed West Pennine Health Authority, which covers Oldham, Tameside and Glossop, "I looked at them and realised something had to be done," he said.
On further scrutiny he said, checking the number of prescriptions issued was "Most such prescriptions are for a month's supply But in areas like Oldham, Doctors are being urged to take extra care when Few, if any GPs now prescribe them long-term for new patients.
Dr Jane Rossini, Consultant in Public Health Medicine for She said: "The level of benzodiazepine prescriptions is high in Oldham, "A lot would have been stress-related—and you would expect stress
people helplessly addicted to controversial tranquillisers or anti-anxiety pills.
all long-term benzodiazepine users in Oldham West
an escape from their dependence on the drugs.
Failsworth, Glodwick, Werneth, Crompton, Moorside and parts of
Chadderton and Royton—Dr Kohli has helped to set up a training course for
GPs practising in those areas, in a bid to help them
wean their patients off their tablets.
offered assistance in stopping the drugs - once and for all.
living in Oldham regularly take benzodiazepine drugs.
as no tally is kept on the number of individual users.
while the figure for Oldham East was 3,200.
relies heavily on patients actually wanting to stop taking them.
"These drugs are highly addictive and
people just can't stop taking them overnight.
and if people aren't motivated to come forward and help themselves,
we can't solve the problem."
originally prescribed for sleeping problems and anxiety.
and a lot of doctors now will not prescribe them at all.
it should be only for a very short term—for two to four weeks."
currently has the fifth highest number of prescriptions for benzodiazepines in the country.
And it was those figures that prompted Dr Kohli into action.
perhaps not the best way of measuring the problem as comparisons were difficult to make.
where doctors treat a high number of drug addicts,
we issue prescriptions weekly and sometimes even daily to
make sure patients are taking them correctly," he explained.
prescribing the drugs—and to offer help to those who want to kick the habit.
West Pennine Health Authority said the high number of
prescriptions for the drugs in West Pennine came as no surprise.
but I suspect many patients started taking them at a time when perhaps
we didn't know as much about benzodiazepines as we do now.
to be a problem in a town like Oldham where there are
high levels of deprivation and unemployment."