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Joan E. Gadsby's Main Page

Joan Gadsby Update

June 12, 2001

Since the release of her internationally endorsed book "Addiction By Prescription" – one woman's triumph and fight for change and her presentation to the "Beat the Benzos" conference in London, England last November. Joan Gadsby has continued her advocacy efforts, public speaking and media publicity regarding the continued indiscriminate prescribing of tranquillizers, sleeping pills and anti depressants. She has received hundreds of thousands of phone calls from across Canada and the United States on this issue which has reached epidemic proportions and which has been known to the medical profession, Health officials and pharmaceutical companies for over two decades.

She has called for a Full Scale Public Inquiry on this issue by Health Canada and the Canadian government and Joan will be presenting to the Senate of Canada this fall.

Impaired driving, health and safety in the work place, floppy baby syndrome, countless deaths from overdoses, career devastation, family dysfunction, insurance claims, social welfare costs, emergency room admissions, increased drug costs, physicians' and pharmacists' fees – the socio-economic costs are far reaching, affecting the quality of life of hundreds of thousands and costing millions of dollars worldwide.

Drug induced psychiatric disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, depression, suicide, violence, brain damage, paradoxical reactions are only a few of the insidious side effects of these legal drugs which create "accidental addicts" of unsuspecting people who trust their doctors to "do no harm".

Recent high profile cases attracting media attention in Canada include: The Christine Nichols case in Ottawa, against the Canadian military; a coroner’s inquest into 20 year old Christena Constible’s death by overdose in Abbotsford, BC; and Christian McEachern, an army officer who drove his sports utility vehicle into Army barracks in Alberta under the effects of a prescription drug cocktail and who was charged.

Joan has exposed the medical professions' lack of medical expertise to help people going through the horrors of withdrawal, – (recognized and documented to be worse than cocaine and heroin), the lack of detox facilities and the continued overall lack of action and accountability in addressing this serious health issue.

Class action lawsuits are being explored in Canada and the United States similar to a $200 million funded case comprising 5000 litigants in the United Kingdom which went to the European Court of Human Rights.

Joan will be a workshop presenter on Benzodiazepines and Anti Depressants at the World Assembly on Mental Health Conference July 22 – 27 in Vancouver, BC, Canada with 1000 plus attendees from around the world.

Her book "Addiction By Prescription" has now been released in paperback and is available online at www.chapters.ca, in bookstores or through her publisher.

Key Porter Books
70 The Esplanade
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M5E 1R2

Phone: (416) 862-7777
Fax: (416) 862-2304

Hardcover: $29.95 – ISBN 1-55263-156-7
Paperback: $19.95 – ISBN 1-55263-334-9

"Addiction By Prescription" was one of the biggest hits at the Frankfurt Germany Book Fair last October and it will be available in other languages in the future. International rights are available for the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. Interested publishers should contact Key Porter Books.

An international version of her television documentary. "Our Pill Epidemic" – the shocking story of a society hooked on drugs which has been broadcast nationally (also available in video) is in development as is Joan's film project based on her book.


Market-Media International Corp.
4507 Cedarcrest Ave., North Vancouver, BC, V7R 3R2, Canada
Phone: (604) 987-6064 Fax: (604) 987-6063
Email Joan E. Gadsby

Joan Gadsby's Main Page

Benzodiazepines –
Time For Action And Accountability



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