Dr Vernon Coleman
Email from Dr Vernon Coleman to the Editor, Independent on Sunday, November 9, 2010 in response to Drugs linked to brain damage 30 years ago, Independent on Sunday, November 7, 2010.
Sir,
The real tragedy about the benzodiazepines is that it was known in the 1980s that these drugs cause brain damage. I reported on the link in detail in my book Life Without Tranquillisers which was published in 1985. (It was in the Sunday Times top ten bestsellers so hardly an obscure book). The Government changed the rules governing prescribing benzodiazepines as a result. Sadly, millions more patients were given the drugs after this information was known.
It's common for people to sue for trivial problems these days. I don't understand why a million or so people who were prescribed benzodiazepines aren't suing. Many of those individuals were severely damaged by the drugs. And doctors should have known of the dangers after 1985.
Yours,
Dr Vernon Coleman MB ChB DSc
Extracts from: "Life Without Tranquillisers", 1985 · Dr Coleman's Web Site · APPGITA Main Page
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