Prescription drugs: What can the coalition do?

The Earl of Sandwich writes for ePolitix.com about dependence on prescription drugs.

In a one-hour debate today I am asking the government what progress it has made with its review of policy on addiction to and withdrawal from prescribed tranquillisers. A member of my own family is among tens of thousands suffering at home in silence, with no immediate prospect of NHS support.

Over a million people suffer from addiction, withdrawal and post-withdrawal effects of tranquillisers. The symptoms – such as panic attacks, muscle weakness, epileptic seizures and even death – are worse than those from illegal drugs. After years of controversy, patient complaints and scientific evidence, the government is supporting only one NHS clinic. Yet all of these patients became addicted as a result of NHS treatment.

Benzodiazepines such as Valium, Mogadon and Ativan were promoted by the pharmaceutical companies as miracle cures as far back as 1960, although their clinical trials had already shown up problems of addiction and toxicity. Professor Heather Ashton of Newcastle University was one of the first to identify the problems of addiction and withdrawal. Professor Ashton designed and printed a tapered withdrawal method which is safely used worldwide.

Doctors have been repeatedly warned since the 1980s that addiction can develop within two to four weeks. In March 2009 Professor Steven Field, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, warned that patients can 'get hooked' after only three or four days.

The last government belatedly decided to set up a review of policy on tranquillisers which the coalition has now extended into next year. This review includes a literature review, an audit of selected PCT prescribing data, and a survey of the withdrawal assistance that is available from the voluntary sector. However, many believe the review to be a case of 'too little too late'; the terms of reference have been shrunk; the completion date is repeatedly extended; and patients have been excluded from the process.

Many other parliamentarians will have relations or friends affected by this problem, and all MPs will have constituents who are affected. For further information contact Jim Dobbin MP, chair of the APPG on involuntary tranquilliser addiction, or Lord Sandwich, vice-chair.

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