Reviews / Endorsements
Dear Wayne,
Well done for all you are doing to get information out there about the risks associated with these drugs and I hope you educate many people in the course of your campaigning.
Kind Regards
Jim
Jim Dobbin MP
House of Commons, London
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“First, I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman Jim Dobbin who has campaigned strongly on this issue over many years. I join him in paying tribute to Professor Ashton, whom I know has considerable expertise in this area.
He is right to say that this is a terrible affliction; these people are not drug addicts but they have become hooked on repeat prescriptions of tranquillisers...”
Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP, Prime Minister, October 23, 2013.
I have received endorsements for my work in raising awareness about benzodiazepines from British MP, Late Hon. Jim Dobbin (above), and world leading authority on the subject, Professor Heather Ashton (below); both of whom were endorsed by British Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. David Cameron.
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Wayne Douglas is a brave man who, in designing the website Benzo Case Japan, has used his own suffering in order to benefit others. His aim is to increase awareness among doctors and the public about the adverse effects of psychotropic drugs, especially tranquillisers such as benzodiazepines.
This clever website, which can be read in both Japanese and English, tells the story of how Wayne, while living in Japan, was wrongly prescribed anti-anxiety drugs (benzodiazepine tranquillisers) in large doses and for long periods. As a result he became addicted to the drugs which caused severe physical and mental symptoms.
Because of the ignorance of doctors, Wayne was forced to plough his own lonely furrow in order to gain information about the effects of the drugs. After learning more about the drugs, he courageously managed to withdraw himself from them. Then after much research into world-wide sources, he later developed more ‘expertise’ on the subject.
The website contains comprehensive information about the drugs. It also tells the enthralling story from the human and personal angle of how Wayne endured his medical suffering, prepared a court case which he lost at the Tokyo High Court, and how at the same time he suffered as a resident of Fukushima, and like so many others, had to endure the appalling consequences of the 3-11 disaster.
This website should be visited by all doctors and members of the public, especially those who have been prescribed benzodiazepines or other psychotropic drugs. All could benefit from the 14 years of work and dedication that Wayne has devoted to the subject.
Heather Ashton: Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychopharmacology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
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Dear Wayne,
You were certainly subject to judicial mishandling of your case! I greatly sympathise with you.
In the UK cases are now being settled out of court but only if the management of the patient's benzodiazepine usage can be deemed to be a breach of duty of care. Increasingly, unjustified prolongation of benzo usage beyond 4 weeks is taken as clear evidence of this. I get the feeling that our medical defence organisations are beginning to see vast legal and financial implications. Of course we have our National Formulary which carries great weight. I do not know if there is an equivalent authority in Japan.
Yours sincerely,
O.B.E., LL.B., Ph.D., M.D., D.Sc., F.R.C. Psych., F. Med Sci.
Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychopharmacology
P056, Institute of Psychiatry,
King's College London
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On behalf of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Involuntary Tranquilliser Addiction and its supporters in the United Kingdom I would like to commend Wayne Douglas for his campaign in Japan against the worldwide problem of Involuntary Tranquilliser Addiction.
We are also campaigning in the UK for the adoption by the National Health Service of the Ashton Manual as a safe and successful withdrawal method from tranquilliser addiction.
Jim Dobbin MP
Chair APPGITA
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Wayne
What you've done on the site is excellent. It’s important to highlight the risks of all psychotropic drugs, including benzodiazepines, and most importantly dependence on antidepressants all of which are overly prescribed.
David
David Healy
Professor of Psychiatry
United Kingdom
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There are many kinds of psychotropic drugs, including benzodiazepines for stress and sleep, being irresponsibly prescribed long term in cases of stress, anxiety, depression etc. brought about by life’s day to day problems (Often somatic / physical complaints associated with daily stress cannot be explained using conventional medical tests).
Many doctors are not aware of the severity of the problems that can occur upon reduction and withdrawal from these types of drugs. This website provides important information for both people having difficulties with withdrawal and for prescribing doctors as well.
Osamu Tajima
Clinical Psychiatry Specialist
University Professor
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Among anxiolytics and sedatives, the benzodiazepines are the most widely used drugs for the management of insomnia and anxiety. Following prolonged treatment, however tolerance often develops which paves the way for withdrawal symptoms of which there are very many including anxiety, agitation, sleep disturbances and so on.
This website provides important information for both doctors prescribing anxiolytics or sedatives and for people using them.
Kazutoyo Inanaga, MD, PhD
Emeritus Professor, Psychiatry
Kureme University
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Dear Wayne,
Congratulations on the excellent Benzo Case Japan website and your other educational work on the dangers of benzos.
Far too many lives have been destroyed by these addictive, psychoactive drugs – because patients trusted their doctors would prescribe only the best and “do no harm”.
Far too few people know of the dangers. Even fewer know where to get help to recover from benzos. Healthier, holistic alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs should also be made widely available to address patients’ needs.
Just as almost everyone today knows about the harms of alcohol and tobacco, so they should about benzos; only that way can they make informed choices. Work like yours is urgently needed and should be supported and expanded.
Deirdre Boyd
Head of DB Recovery Resources daily news
CEO of the Addiction Recovery Foundation & Editor of Addiction Today (20 plus years)
Founder of the UK/European Symposia on Addictive Disorders
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This website has been constructed by me personally for the purpose of raising awareness about doctor induced benzodiazepine drug dependency and litigation problems.
The purpose of this site does not include any form of retribution. Also, for privacy reasons the defendants’ names along with certain other names have been omitted from all public documentation contained herein.
There are no other persons / parties involved and it in no way represents any organization or activist type movements.
It is not intended as medical or legal advice – please see Disclaimer.
As someone who has experienced both doctor induced benzo dependency and the effects of the 3-11 disaster, I immediately became concerned about the overprescribing of prescription drugs to the many thousands of people in the disaster areas.
As it happened, I was writing my Supreme Court appeal in the midst of the disaster, so I took this opportunity to try and raise the alarm by including the following passage in my closing comments…
Most surprising of all, the high court relied on the packaging produced by the pharmaceutical company to determine the dosage at which benzodiazepines could be deemed addictive.
“I don't feel like I lost, I feel like I won and the court failed,” he says. “It feels like they were protecting the doctors and failed to protect society.” "What I want to do is use my experience and the material generated through my case to provide a resource to others who are dependent or may become dependent."