Friday, April 11, 2014

Medical Treatment Revisited No. 5796

Series: Prescription Drugs - Dangerous Prescribing

Continuous Slapdash Prescribing Leads to Dependency

At the end of last month a website called Benzo Case Japan was launched to help raise awareness about the adverse effects of benzodiazepine drugs and how to withdrawal. The website was created by New Zealander Wayne Douglas (47) together with the help of doctors, including those from England, and is available in both English and Japanese.

Mr. Douglas first came to Japan at age 25 with an interest in Japanese culture. He worked in local level international relations at various local government offices throughout the country and as an English teacher.

In May 2000, he was hit by a severe attack of vertigo and underwent an examination at an ENT in Tokyo. The doctor said “it will be necessary to change the constitutional makeup of your body using drugs” and prescribed 3 different kinds of benzodiazepines.

These drugs are often used in psychiatry, but they are also prescribed by general practitioners all too easily with the expectation of muscle relaxation and general sedative effects.  

When taken long term, even on the same prescribed doses, dependency can form resulting in an increase of anxiety etc. This is because tolerance develops and the drugs soon lose their effect resulting in withdrawal symptoms appearing during the treatment, which are similar to those experienced when stopping. However, the doctor told Mr. Douglas “these drugs are not addictive on small doses and there are basically no side-effects”.

Later, Mr. Douglas’s symptoms worsened. He began developing symptoms that he never had before including sudden panic attacks. In November the same year, he made an attempt at stopping but the panic attacks etc. increased to an unbearable degree so he had to continue taking the drugs.

He returned to New Zealand and was diagnosed by a specialist drug rehabilitation facility as suffering from benzodiazepine dependency. He underwent a reduction program as an outpatient. Even so, the anxiety and depression associated with withdrawal continued after stopping and it took one year before his GP declared him fit enough to enter reemployment.

＊Benzo Case Japan

http://www.benzo-case-japan.com

Wayne Douglas working hard on his website
(at Nagano residence)

“Major losses and damages were the result of unnecessary and unscientific prescribing”. In 2007, Mr. Douglas lodged a civil claims case for compensation. The doctor rejected his claim of dependency and counter claimed that he was instead suffering from Autonomic Nervous Disorder (In other words, Douglas had an underlying anxiety disorder and this, not the drugs, was the cause of his symptoms). The New Zealand doctor stated “Looking at the history of symptoms, it is clearly a case of dependency”, but this was rejected and the case was lost in the High Court in 2011.

However, this only strengthened Mr. Douglas’s resolve and he remains determined to help improve the situation. At the time of the great earthquake in Eastern Japan, he was working at an international relations centre in Fukushima and was directly affected by the disaster, but he continued to stay on in Japan despite this.

In 2012, whilst residing in evacuee housing and teaching English part time, he helped complete the translation of a medical manual on benzodiazepines and how to withdrawal; namely The Ashton Manual in Japanese. There were many messages of gratitude from people saying “thanks to your help, I’ve been able to break free from the drugs” etc.

Mr. Douglas says “The only way to help improve the situation in places like Japan, where many doctors and the courts are clearly unreliable, is to continue publicizing the facts. Many experts in the West also see Japan as having significant problems and with their help and expertise I think it would be a good idea to carry out further investigations into the problem”.