Me outside the Tokyo High Court with verdict in hand

Soon up from my sick bed, still with the lingering effects of dependency and in a weakened state, I embarked upon a journey as far as the Supreme Court of Japan to help get recognition for the pain, suffering and losses associated with prescription benzodiazepines.

My lawyer and I fought this case in earnest to try and set a precedent with a view to lobbying for safer benzodiazepine prescription guidelines in Japan, and to help raise greater awareness in general.

This against a world famous doctor, the hospital that he was employed by, and their teams of lawyers.

Apart from my lawyer, I basically fought this case in a country and language different from my own (Japanese) for 6 years in the courts whilst working full time and living alone without any immediate support around me.

My case also involved many other Challenges including being directly affected by the mega-quake and nuclear disaster in March 2011 which coincided with my Supreme Court Appeal. I actually had to continue preparing this by myself (in Japanese) as I moved from evacuation point to evacuation point in between rotational blackouts.

February 2003
Commenced preparations for litigation.

February 2006
Began the case by representing myself during the initial stages of mediation at the Tokyo Summary Court which I had lodged alone.

June 2007
Commenced judicial proceedings at Tokyo District Court.

September 2008
Returned to Japan again in order to testify with no place to stay, no job and no money.

September 2009
Commenced proceedings at Tokyo High Court.

May 2011
Ended the case by representing myself as I made my appeal to the Supreme Court of Japan alone (in the midst of the 3/11 mega-quake and Fukushima nuclear disaster).

October 2011
Supreme Court decision was delivered.

Me outside my evacuee housing unit
(Nagano, Japan)

Clearly for me the most painful wound inflicted by this entire ordeal was the impact it had on my elderly mother. The effects my doctor induced dependency had on her were bad enough, but due to my life having been thrown completely off track, I haven’t been able to repay the retirement savings she lent me for my university education, nor have I been able to support her during her retirement.

I think the ultimate discrepancy in the High Court Verdict is that the Judge failed to rule out the fact I was dependent in terms of the DSM-IV-TR (worldwide recognized diagnostic standard) which formed the overall basis for the entire case.

Although the Judge addressed two of the criteria in tolerance (criteria 1) and withdrawal (criteria 2), albeit without any direct reference to the DSM-IV-TR itself, he completely failed to address the other three that were being claimed – effectively leaving them standing.

See this Section

My case is just one small example of how destructive benzodiazepines can be.

Despite having spent significant time, money and effort getting an education and coming to Japan nearly 20 years ago, and working in international relations, at age 47, I now have absolutely “nothing” – no home, no family, no savings, no assets, and no security, only outstanding debts and court fees.

If I wasn’t exposed to benzodiazepine dependency, there wouldn’t have been any needless suffering, losses, damages or any subsequent court case. Therefore, I would have had the capacity to rescue myself from the 3/11 disaster when it struck.

This is what benzodiazepine dependency can do. It can create a domino effect, and these effects can reach far and deep affecting not only the individual, but also entire families, work, and indeed all society (See socioeconomic costs by Prof. Ashton).