Members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence (APPG for PDD) met at Westminster on 15 March in order to lobby Public Health England for a national 24 hour helpline to help patients withdraw from opioid painkillers, tranquilisers and antidepressants. Parliamentarians who attended included Paul Flynn MP (chair), Sir Oliver Letwin MP, […]
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Summary and slides from recent meeting of APPG on opiate painkiller dependence
Paul Flynn MP, chair of the APPG for Prescribed Drug Dependence, opened the meeting whose focus was on the problem of opiate painkiller (OP) dependence. APPG Secretariat member Harry Shapiro, introduced the topic, characterising the situation as a ‘public health disaster’ which is killing hundreds of people a year and ruining the lives of millions […]
Minutes now available of the AGM of the APPG for Prescribed Drug Dependence held 19/10/16
Minutes of the AGM held on 19 October 2016 can be found here.
APPG for Prescribed Drug Dependence joins BMA call for a national helpline
The APPG for Prescribed Drug Dependence met on 19 October in the House of Lords to discuss the issue of dependence upon opioid painkillers. The APPG heard how prescriptions of opioid analgesics have increased by over 500% since 1991. The British Pain Society, who attended the meeting, said: ‘We do not know what the scale […]
Video now available of recent Westminster event on link between rising prescribing and disability
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence held an event on 11 May 2016 at Westminster to discuss evidence of the link between the rise in disability claimants and the record level of antidepressant prescribing. The video of the event can be seen below:
New BMA report calls for concerted action to tackle dependence caused by prescribed drugs
The BMA Board of Science has released a report Prescribed drugs associated with dependence and withdrawal – building a consensus which acknowledges how far the government, medical profession and research community need to go in order to properly address this major public health problem. Government prescription statistics reveal that prescriptions for tranquillisers, antidepressants and opiate-based […]
Briefing notes on the harms of prescribed drug dependency
The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry created a briefing note for the APPG for Prescribed Drug Dependence, titled ‘The Harmful Effects of Overprescribing Benzodiazepines, Antidepressants and other Psychiatric Medications’. The briefing note can be downloaded here. Harry Shapiro, drug information and policy analyst, created a report on the harms associated with opioid dependency, titled ‘Opioid painkiller […]
Launch of APPG for Prescribed Drug Dependence
The APPG for Prescribed Drug Dependence was launched at a meeting held in the House of Lords on 30 June 2015. The APPG will be chaired by Paul Flynn MP, with David Tredinnick MP, Lord Patel of Bradford, Baroness Masham of Ilton and the Earl of Sandwich all elected as co-chairs. The Council for Evidence-based […]