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Benzo Bill Moving Forward in Massachusetts House!

3/15/2016

The Benzo Bill, aka the McMurtry Bill aka MA Bill H.4062, is moving forward in the Massachusetts State House!

PLEASE READ AND GET INVOLVED! See below:

On February 24th, 2016 Bill HD4554 - An Act relative to benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepine hypnotics was filed by Representative Paul McMurtry in the Massachusetts State House. The bill received 47 co-sponsors during the seven day open period in which legislators can co-sponsor. This is an impressive and promising turnout.

The bill was assigned bill number H.4062, and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Because the bill was unseasonably filed, it does not have to be heard by the Joint Committee before this legislative session ends, but there is still a chance it could be heard before the July 2016 deadline. The committee will hear testimonies from experts in the field about why this bill is so important to public health and safety. At that point, the committee will decide whether the bill should pass, “go to study”, or be denied. If the bill “goes to study”, meaning that it will require more research before a decision is made, then the bill will be effectively “dead in the water” until next year.

The likely and hoped for outcome is that the Joint Committee will pass the bill, at which point it will go before the House and the Senate for debate, until it ends up on the floor of the House and Senate for a final vote.

What can you do to help?

If you live or have resident status in Massachusetts:

Please e-mail your personal story of benzodiazepine harm to the Chairs and Members of the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, and send using this email address: garrett.burns@mahouse.gov. Note: Please address the Joint Committee directly. Example:

Dear Chairs and Members of the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse,

Please refer to Bill Number H.4062 in the subject line or the body of your email. Make sure to include your full name and your town in Massachusetts.

Your personal story will be presented as evidence to the Joint Committee as they decide whether or not the bill moves forward. The sooner you can send your personal story, the better, since it is unclear when the committee will meet.

Important: Please send a copy of your email to your state senator and representatives.

If you live outside of Massachusetts, please follow the instructions above, and send your personal story of benzodiazepine harm to Chairs and Members of the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse using the same email address: garrett.burns@mahouse.gov. Explain how this bill will affect your state/country. For example, if this bill passes in Massachusetts, you are hoping a similar bill will pass in your own state/country. Make sure to include the following information:

Your Full Name
Town and State (if you live within the US)
Country (if you live outside of the US)
E-mail address

Letting the Joint Committee and your senators and representatives know how benzodiazepines have harmed you or a loved one, and the bill’s importance for public health and safety, is crucial to getting the votes needed for Bill H.4062 to pass. Thank you for getting involved!

SILENCE = DEATH revisited & the benzo connection

3/13/2016

This week’s controversy about Hillary's claim that Nancy Reagan was a meaningful advocate and change-maker for AIDS policy in the 80’s brought back memories of hush-hush AIDS days in the 80’s and exploding AIDS activism in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Ron and Nancy Reagan had much more to do with the hushing, and nothing to do with latter-day advocacy other than inciting anger and inspiring protest. As for Hillary and Bill? I recall sitting at a chi-chi AMFAR dinner in NYC in the early 2000’s and witnessing actor and activist Richard Gere chastising Bill Clinton loudly and clearly for doing NOTHING to help the AIDS cause when he was President. Bill and Hillary sat at their table with frozen smiles on their faces. There was a moment of distinct discomfort. The moment passed, and the meal and (friendlier) celebrity speeches continued.

Despite a non-existent presidential policy in the (Bill) Clinton years, activist organizations like ACT-UP waged a battle to fast-track to market any drug that might lessen AIDS sufferers’ agony and possibly offer a cure. They scored some victories. In 1997, with Congress’ approval, the FDA initiated a program to bring promising drugs to market, allowing positive lab results to take the place of clinical trials. In the ensuing years, this has become a double-edged sword for the public-at-large. The flip side of AIDS victories are psychotropic drug nightmares.

What if we could go back in time? Perhaps if benzodiazepines had been studied thoroughly in the late 50’s for long-term efficacy and effects, they might never have been approved for market. Perhaps. At any rate, I would have liked to think that lessons were learned, and that in more recent years the FDA would not have allowed such short-sighted test-and-release practices for drugs that target and alter our brain chemistry. Unfortunately, it appears that the loosening of FDA standards has made things worse. As a matter of fact, between 2008 and 2015, sixteen new psychiatric drugs were fast-tracked to market.

Last week, I interviewed Danish scientist Peter Gotzsche for the film. Gotzsche has been a tireless advocate for pharmaceutical industry transparency and properly-run clinical trials that do, indeed, demand study of the long-term effects of a drug before it is introduced to the market. But the FDA does not appear to be listening. It is far too easy for drug-makers to focus on short-term effects. Long-term effects and injury, be damned, as those with benzodiazepine damage know only too well. On the global scene, there are now millions of people who have been “adversely affected,” i.e., injured, even destroyed, by benzodiazepines and other psychotropic drugs. A lax FDA and an avaricious Big Pharma, holding themselves up as the arbiters of correct drug fact and education, lead doctors and practitioners to ignore better-researched evidence, to look the other way, and to continue to write misbegotten prescriptions for benzodiazepines.

It’s going to be an interesting year. Who has the guts to take on Big Pharma? Bernie has been outspoken about price-gouging, but not about pharmaceutical injury. Oh, what we can teach him! I am certain that he would make a willing student. No way do I think that there is any other candidate who is free and clear from Big Pharma ($$$) influence. Sorry Hill, revisionist history will not change your record of support from Wall Street (Big Pharma’s best friend). Scary to think I’ll have to vote for Hillary if Bernie does not get the Democratic nod at the July convention. But I’ll do it. Of course, I’ll do it. The Republican alternative is just too frightening to consider.

One way or the other, let’s prepare to enlighten and educate our new president. All hail a benzo-wise Commander-in-Chief!

Benzo Bill Moving Forward in Massachusetts House!

SILENCE = DEATH revisited & the benzo connection

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