Quick link for medical professionals
If You Are a Sufferer, Get Help.
If you think you may be physically or psychologically dependent on benzodiazepines, or you suspect that a friend or loved one may be, look at the For Patients pages. It can come as quite a shock when this problem touches you personally. Most people need help to get through it. It is important to not only familiarize yourself with the problem, but to read about how others have made the journey through discovery to healing. This website has tools to help convert your prescriber into your ally, and help is available through the many resources listed on the Additional Patient Resources pages.
Report Your Benzo or Z-Drug Experience to the FDA
The FDA has a special program to prevent drugs from hurting people. It only works if you report your problem. If you have been injured by benzodiazepines or Z-drugs, including becoming physiologically dependent on them, please report your experience to the FDA.
The FDA program is called MedWatch, and it collects data regarding adverse events in healthcare. Per the FDA, an adverse event is any undesirable experience associated with the use of a medical product. By the end of 2019, over 180,000 benzodiazepine adverse events had been reported, with Xanax® receiving about one-third of the complaints. Over 300,000 complaints have been filed against all of the BZRAs, which include benzodiazepines and Z-drugs.
Voluntary reporting by healthcare professionals, consumers, and patients is conducted on a single, one-page reporting form (Form FDA 3500B). Reporting can be conducted online, by phone at 1-800-332-1088, or by submitting the MedWatch 3500B form by mail. If you are withdrawing or recovering from benzodiazepines and find this form difficult to fill out, help is available to assist you with the form.
Join Our BRIDGE Team
If you are a medical professional who is concerned about the problems with benzodiazepines or Z-drugs, the Alliance for Benzodiazepine Best Practices can provide you with a platform and connections to help put evidence-based solutions in place. Our Benzodiazepine Reform Is Determined and Guided by Evidence (BRIDGE) team is the place to start. BRIDGE members typically agree with Alliance goals, but as busy professionals cannot currently dedicate time to help the Alliance. BRIDGE will keep interested persons abreast of Alliance-sponsored programs, such as the studies and papers we commission and our CME series and books. Our hope is that BRIDGE team members will be able to use the materials that the Alliance produces, and some may choose to become active in the Alliance at some point.
This program takes little effort from the prescriber, but can have a big impact on patients. To join, just fill in the Join form, indicating areas of expertise and interest. Names, email addresses and other information of members are not used or published without your permission. Unless you contact us with questions or concerns, you will receive minimal emails from the Alliance – perhaps a few per year.
If you want to be part of the solution, click here.
Join the Best Practices Alliance
If you are motivated to be part of team that is dedicated to reducing the number of people who suffer benzo withdrawal, we’d love to talk with you. Even if you can only help intermittently, you can make a difference.
Donate
The Alliance operates solely on tax-deductible contributions. We need your help.
