There is a big gap between current benzodiazepine prescribing practices and what the evidence tells us about benzodiazepines. At times the warning signs about benzodiazepines are not immediately evident or are misinterpreted. For those who know that they need to look for them, these warning signs often become clear very quickly. However, benzodiazepine use is convenient and so deeply entrenched that it will require a concerted effort to bring the evidence to prescribers’ attention. In addition, because prescribers must divide their focus on patients’ multiple medical conditions and are challenged by the enormous complexity of the practice of medicine, identifying and addressing benzodiazepine-related matters is often sidelined. Medical providers need practical, streamlined guidance that can more easily be incorporated into the clinical setting. More than knowledge itself, it is essential to allow adequate time with patients to include respectful listening, motivational interviewing, informed consent, and shared decision-making.
One of the Alliance’s programs is directed at providing a direct prescriber education series on benzodiazepines. Through reputable experts and key opinion leaders in the field, we are offering several courses on benzodiazepines throughout the country and beyond, many of which also provide Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits. For example, the Alliance completed a course on September 7, 2018, at PAINWeek in Las Vegas. It had over 250 medical professionals in attendance and offered full CME credit. This course is still being offered online for CME credit on the PAINWeek website and can be accessed here. Unfortunately, PAINWeek charges a registration fee. The course title is “Benzodiazepines and Z Drugs for Pain Patients: the Problem of Protracted Withdrawal Symptoms (PWS)”
Our intention is to enable course attendees to present the material to their organizations. This includes providing full course materials and support for direct presentation to willing attendees, and a video of one of the live presentations to those who are not yet comfortable presenting the material. We are in the process of producing this material – stay tuned. Once they are confirmed, the schedules for the other CME courses will also be posted here.
Get CME Credits for Learning About the Problems with BZRAs
On September 4, 2019, members of the Alliance presented, for the second time, an educational seminar to about 300 prescribers at PAINWeek in Las Vegas. This presentation is available for CME credits (for a fee) at the PAINWeek educational website as “Tumbling Dice: Preventing a Benzodiazepine Crisis and Understanding Protracted Withdrawal Syndrome”.
Alliance Benzodiazepine Symposia
Some of the professional symposia and presentations, such as the University of Arizona BZD Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symposium, along with other CME presentations, are available for viewing. Some of the material within the presentations is available for download and re-use.
Watch the International Benzodiazepine Symposium intro video and see the presentations here.
Alliance Educational Material
Since the Alliance was formed in 2018, we have made (typically) hour-long presentations to over 2600 prescribers in 43 different venues. We have several more planned for this year. Many of these presentations are fully accredited Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses. They typically contain a more detailed version of much of the information presented on this website, along with extensive references. Some courses include direct patient experiences with withdrawal and recovery from benzodiazepines.
Click here to browse the educational material titles and topics, or to view the material.
The most comprehensive book ever written on benzodiazepines was published in October, 2020. An Alliance project with chapters written by 12 medical professionals, read about “The Benzodiazepines Crisis: The Ramifications of an Overused Drug Class” here.
