AN APPEAL FROM MARY BAKER
Benzo Campaigner
July 17, 2009
Mary Baker is appealing for further information to be sent to the Senior Lawyer of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Enforcement team, who has recently been asked to carry out a preliminary assessment of the serious benzodiazepine issues that she recently raised in her letter of formal complaint to the EHRC concerning none activity by Government Ministers to deal formally with the active discrimination against NHS patients in the UK by the denial of proper treatment for their prescribed drug addiction through exclusion.
Mary submitted her paper 'Patients with Prescribed Benzodiazepine Addiction Illness and Their Inability to Access Proper Health Care within the NHS' as supportive evidence of her formal complaint against Government Ministers which means that people are actually dying due to lack of proper health care (see, for example the anonymous second case history, worst case scenario in this paper which you can find here on Ray Nimmo's website.
The EHRC Lawyer is now asking for further information so that he can carry out his preliminary assessment. He says more information would help him to get the fullest understanding of the benzodiazepine issue so would urge you to contact him at the following address: Rhodri McDonald, Senior Lawyer, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Arndale House, The Arndale Centre, Manchester M4 3AQ · Telephone 0161 829 8100 · Email info@equalityhumanrights.com.
Mary's letter to the EHRC of June 24, 2009:
8 York Street
Market Harborough
Leicestershire
LE16 7PF
June 24, 2009
Dear Sir Trevor Philips
I understand that you are Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the body of which I need to place my formal complaint.
The nature of my complaint is encompassed, in detail, in my paper enclosed, titled 'Patients with Prescribed Benzodiazepine Addiction Illness and Their Inability to Access Proper Health Care within the NHS' as supportive evidence of my formal complaint, of none activity by Government Ministers to formally deal with this unhealthy but active discrimination against these NHS patients in the UK by refusing proper treatment for prescribed drug addiction by exclusion.
I have submitted this paper three times, once in 2004 to Mr D. Hinchcliffe, Chair person, New Inquiry, Health Select Committee, then again in 2007 to Dr Brian Iddon, Chair of all Parliamentary Group on Drug Misuse, and recently this May 2009 to Anne Milton MP Shadow Minister for Health. But nothing has changed and there are no provisions for Healthcare for this particular group of damaged patients yet set in place.
These patients who are involuntary addicted to prescribed benzodiazepines are therefore being denied their basic human right to receiving proper health care and treatment on the NHS, for when they want help in coming off these drugs or help with drug tolerance illness. This being the case, for many years now, these patients have been rendered disabled due to the lack of appropriate treatment for their doctor induced prescribed drug addiction.
I also understand, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that this huge problem of patients being damaged both physically and mentally by this prescribed drug addiction and being discriminated against has been brought to the Commission's attention years previously, but as yet the Commission for Equality and Human Rights has made no ruling as to whether these disabled patients are actively being discriminated against and therefore should have access to proper treatment on the NHS made available to them as their Right.
Is it the case that the Commission has not looked into this disgraceful affair yet of these damaged patients, or that the Commission does not have the teeth with which to make rulings that would make changes for the better too benefit these damaged, disabled patients?
Yours sincerely
Reply received from EHRC:
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Arndale House
The Arndale Centre
Manchester
M4 3AQ
Telephone 0161 829 8100
Email info@equalityhumanrights.com
July 15, 2009
Dear Mrs Baker
Patients with prescribed Benzodiazepine Addiction Illness
Your e-mailed letter of the 24 June 2009, addressed to Mr Trevor Phillips, has been referred to me because I am a Senior Lawyer in the Equality and Human Rights Commission Enforcement team. I have been asked to carry out a preliminary assessment of the issues raised by your letter to enable the Commission to assess whether (and if so what) enforcement action is appropriate in this case
In reaching that decision, the Commission will have regard both to the legal issues which arise from the matters raised in your letter and the extent to which the matters raised are priorities for action within the Commission's current Legal Strategy.
To begin with, I would be very grateful if you could supply me with some further information so that can carry out a preliminary assessment in this case. You very kindly sent me your paper on this issue. It would be very useful if you could provide me with any further information which would help me to get the fullest understanding of this issue. I would be able to obtain copies of Parliamentary reports relating to this issue from the Web but if you think there is any other material which it would be particularly useful for me to have please could you provide me with details.
In your e-mail you refer to this issue having been brought to the Commission's attention "years previously". It would be very useful if you could provide further details of any previous contact with the current Commission regarding this issue. I am aware that Jim Dobbin MP did recently write to the Chair regarding this matter but I am not aware of any earlier contact. If this matter was raised "years previously" then it may be that it was raised with one of the predecessor Commissions such as the Disability Rights Commission. Any information about who at that Commission was contacted regarding the matter would be very useful.
Please feel free to contact me by e-mail if that is easier. I am based at the Commission's Manchester Office on Monday through to Thursday with Friday being my non-working day.
Yours sincerely
Rhodri McDonald
Senior Lawyer
