
Benzodiazepines: Our Other Prescription Drug Problem - pratheekrebala
https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/public-health/benzodiazepines-what-journalists-should-know
======
maddyboo
I have battled with severe anxiety and panic disorders for years. At my worst,
I was often unable to get out of bed for days at a time due to fear of having
a panic attack outside the safety of my home.

Taking an SSRI has helped a lot, but there are times where I can feel a panic
attack coming and know the only way to stop it is with a Xanax.

I regard benzodiazepines with a lot of respect. Their power is a blessing and
a curse. Used responsibly, I believe they can be a very effective and safe
tool to live a normal life free of panic attacks.

At this point, I rarely take them - one dose every month or two at most. But
the knowledge that I have a tool to quell a panic attack, should I need it,
has actually done more for me than the pills themselves. Knowing I’m not
powerless gives me the strength to overcome the panic attacks on my own.

Recently, I’ve noticed doctors becoming more and more apprehensive about
prescribing benzodiazepines. This is definitely a good thing - I think they
should be reserved for severe cases as a last resort. But I also worry about a
future where people who could have benefited greatly from them without abuse
are denied a prescription.

~~~
jnovek
I'm similar -- thankfully, when I panic I can frequently get through it
without taking a benzo, but I do have clonazepam on hand for the situations
where it might be very useful.

There are times where I would've likely made poor decisions during an acute
panic attack that was aborted quickly by benzos. The ability to say "stop now"
\-- hell, even the security of know there's a _way_ to say "stop now" \-- is
important to coping with anxiety.

------
piazz
I was taking 3mg Lorazepam nightly for almost three years. Weening off of it
safely took almost an entire year of miserable work, and the final stages I
had to do while I had no other significant life responsibilities because of
the incredible rebound insomnia and background anxiety you experience
withdrawing off benzodiazepines. The only upshot is that when you finally do
manage to get yourself off of a drug like this, you sort of feel like you can
tackle most other challenges life throws your way.

So yeah, this stuff is serious. And of course, my Lorazepam was prescribed
legally, by a responsible, well regarded psychiatrist, with very little
warning regarding how quickly one builds both tolerance and physiological
dependence on this chemical.

~~~
icantdrive55
I really think most Psychiatrists know how addictive Benzodiazepines are, but
Americans are very stressed out.

In my case, I busted a gasket in my twenties. I went from the most capable
person in the room, to the trembling guy who could barely leave his room. I
can honestly say it ruined my life.

I was given a benzo with a long half life. It worked a bit, but I never fully
recovered. I think we all know the drug. 40 hour half life.

I tried all kinds of medications over the years, and nothing worked except
benzodiazepines , and alcohol. Yes--alcohol hits so many different parts of
the brain, but is horrid on the body. I really tried to avoid alcohol, but
some days the anxiety susptoms we just unbearable.

I've been on the long half life benzodiazepine for decades. I take the same
dose low dose, and try not to drink.

I've never even asked my doctor, but he knows my low dose isn't going to cause
physical problems. They are better than alcohol, if you're self-medicating. I
belive his thinking is I need the drug. I've been on it forever. Why put him
through a misserable detox, at this stage of the game?

There are a few big studies done on patients whom were on opiates, and
benzodiazepines for long periods of time. They didn't necessarily need to
increase their dosages. I believe the studies were done on rest home geriatric
patients.

I feel at my age, what's the point of a long withdrawal. It's easy to say for
myself because my doctor has reasonable rates. He is getting close to
retirement, and that has me very worried. The last thing I want is a long
misserable detox.

I don't like the way this drug problem is playing out. I don't like blaming
doctors. All their patients are very different.

My wish is we let, especially Psychiatrists, make these hard calls concerning
what's best for their patients. That's what they went to school for.

I don't know why we are even discussing it here.

I don't want to live in a world where doctors send their patients home a mess
because they are afaird of being accused of some sinister reason for keeping a
patient on a addictive drug.

In all reality, so many doctors just don't prescribe certain drugs. Probally,
one of the main reasons why former patients go to the streets, or liquor
stores.

(I would further like to see a governmental bill that would allow patients,
whom have been on addictive drugs for years, the ability to authorize their
own scripts. The Same dose, and any increase would require a doctor's visit.
At this point my office visits are pointless. There is a bill that is in
congress now I believe, but it's for drugs that aren't addictive. I doubt the
AMA will ever let it pass though.)

~~~
piazz
It’s your life, and your call, but one compelling reason to ween off these
drugs is simply that you’ll feel better (most likely) when you’re off of them.
I felt like I got my old brain back when I got off Lorazepam. While we take
these drugs to initially treat acute anxiety, they have a tendency to create
chronic anxiety in the user. This of course requires more of the drug to
combat, and you have a positive feedback cycle that makes them so difficult to
get off of. But, at least in my experience, there was light at the end of the
tunnel. And, FWIW, my doctor was _extremely_ fallible despite his years of
education, as you noted.

------
qwerty456127
Taking 1/4 pill of Xanax occasionally together with 1200 mg piracetam + 3 mg
sunifiram + another 1200 mg piracetam pill some hours later is amazing for
concentration (but that's my personal experience, just sharing it, I don't
recommend this to anybody, also neither piracetam nor sunifiram are approved
by the FDA). Almost cures my ADHD and anxiety altogether and makes me happy
and super productive (as compared to my baseline which is severely hindered by
untreated ADHD and anxiety). And no addiction ever (perhaps people that take
higher doses get addicted but I don't). God save the black market and the
grannies who don't mind sharing a pill. I really believe people should stop
this witch hunt and embrace the BLTC (better life through chemistry)
philosophy and start developing ways to fight the bad effects (physiological
addiction, withdrawal syndromes, tolerance development, liver/kidney harm,
receptors disregulation etc) instead of outlawing substances that improve
quality of life. A person mood/attitude and performance is 99% chemistry and
demonizing the very idea of seeking to improve it (even above what is
considered a norm) is madness.

~~~
throwaway77384
I'm with you here.

The problem is that you look like someone who has done their research, is
knowledgeable and self aware, and trying to (seemingly successfully) address a
problem.

Lots and lots of people are nothing like that. They just want to get high.
Escape reality at all costs, no matter the damage to themselves or others.

This isn't the drugs' problem or fault, obviously. Those people will use
alcohol and other means to get fucked up and they will obtain the drugs they
want illegaly anyway.

THE THING IS: While it's illegal to get those drugs, society can demonise
those people and politicians can run with that as their platform.

Should drugs be made legal, all it will take is one idiot killing themselves
or others while on drugs and suddenly it's the drugs' fault again, and the
next politician running with a 'tough on drugs' stance will win.

People will look for blame and they will not do so rationally.

Self-driving cars will be dragged through the press for every accident there
is, even if they are 10,000x less likely to crash. People are afraid of
flying. Videogames are the reason for killing sprees, etc. etc.

------
jnovek
Serious question: as we make opiods and now bezos increasingly difficult to
prescribe, what are the alternatives for people with chronic pain or chronic
anxiety?

I have friends and family members with chronic pain and, through them and
their communities, have become aware of many people who use opiods on a long-
term, occasional basis to manage their pain. A family member of mine who
suffers from chronic migraine lives in fear that she won't be able to get an
opiod which she uses as a last-ditch rescue treatment before she ends up at
the ER (not to mention that she gets treated like a drug seeker when she does
end up there).

I don't really see an alternative for acute intense pain; likewise an
alternative for acute, intense anxiety. Meanwhile the crackdowns on these
drugs also create a chilling effect for physicians. What do we do for people
who fall in those categories?

(Edit: not to claim that abuse of these drugs is not a problem... It just
seems like the people these drugs are inteded to help are being sidelined in
the dialog on the topic.)

~~~
spamizbad
For benzos: There really is no drug alternative to benzos other than _maybe_
SSRIs but most people perscribed them probably tried SSRIs in the past to no
effect. Your other alternative is extensive psychotherapy, which your
insurance is unlikely to cover. Perhaps in the future marijuana, MDMA or
ketamine might prove useful.

Benzos generally require you to taper off them, as I believe the withdrawal
side-effects include seizures. You cannot safely "cold turkey" them.... so I
hope they don't get all heavy-handed with them like they are for people who
rely on opiods to treat chronic pain.

~~~
tnecniv
> There really is no drug alternative to benzos other than maybe SSRIs but
> most people perscribed them probably tried SSRIs in the past to no effect.

Actually the two really serve different purposes. Benzos are commonly
prescribed as a way to manage panic attacks or other acute occurrences of
anxiety. SSRIs can help reduce your anxiety over time, but take a long time to
build up in your system. Often people are prescribed both simultaneously.

~~~
DanBC
> Benzos are commonly prescribed as a way to manage panic attacks or other
> acute occurrences of anxiety.

That's how they're supposed to be prescribed, but in this threaad we see a few
people who take a daily benzo and have done for several months.

------
maxander
What is the thesis here? Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed and have the
potential for abuse; these things are both true; I hadn't heard the rate of
prescription was rising, but I'd believe it. There doesn't seem to be any
evidence presented for a trend or rise in benzodiazepine abuse, or evidence of
general harm from the use of the drugs. It highlights parallels between the
existence of this prescription drug class and another class that is associated
with significant issues, and makes it _sound_ as if there were an issue
here... and then leaves it at that, the literary equivalent of a wink and a
nudge. Are they arguing that prescription of drugs with abuse potential is
_inherently_ a problem? Because that would be a very extreme position, one
which would challenge a sizable fraction of the medications available to
modern psychiatry.

And this is a "journalist's resource," one associated with the Harvard Kennedy
School? No wonder journalism is garbage these days.

~~~
lmpostor
>A study published in 2016 in the American Journal of Public Health finds that
from 1996 to 2013, the number of adults in the United States filling a
prescription for benzodiazepines increased 67 percent, from 8.1 million to
13.5 million. The death rate for overdoses involving benzodiazepines also
increased in this time period, from 0.58 per 100,000 adults to 3.07.

In the first link in the article >the quantity of benzodiazepines they
obtained more than tripled during that period, from 1.1-kg to 3.6-kg
lorazepam-equivalents per 100,000 adults.

~~~
maxander
That's all prescribed doses, though. So, yes, the use of benzodiazepines is
going up, which obviously carries with it the associated rise in side effects
and drug-related deaths. It's not reasonably comparable to the narcotics
epidemic, where illegal use is driving mortality rates.

~~~
benbreen
I see how that's true on a legal level, but if we're just talking about social
and public health impacts, I don't see why the distinction between
prescription and illegal use matters here. A three-fold increase in a category
of drugs with major health impacts seems newsworthy to me. After all, the
boundaries between legal and illegal use are far from fixed. Methamphetamine
was once widely prescribed by physicians for weight loss, for instance (and is
indeed still legally available as a prescription medicine) [1].

Presumably we can agree that a world in which prescriptions for
methamphetamine have tripled might be a cause for concern, right? It's
debatable whether this class of drugs has the same abuse and health risks, but
based on my own reading and anecdotal experiences, I think they're pretty
comparable.

[1] [https://resobscura.blogspot.com/2012/06/from-quacks-to-
quaal...](https://resobscura.blogspot.com/2012/06/from-quacks-to-quaaludes-
three.html)

------
GABAthrowaway
GABA receptor modulation is no joke. I was prescribed Xanax for panic attacks.
My PC kept increasing my dosage, until I decided I had had enough. Withdrawal
was nightmarish, but luckily I hadn't been using it that long (only for two
weeks or so). My brain chemistry was never quite the same. I ended up looking
for substitutes like Phenibut and Etizolam. With these I was addicted to the
confidence they gave me in approaching women, so not quite physiological like
Xanax. What finally cured my anxiety was a macrodose of LSD-25 (111-150 ug).
Even then I wouldn't recommend it. Meditation is the best tool - our bodies
naturally produce Anandamide. In my case, due to certain traumas, LSD-25
allowed me to see the beauty of this World and Universe once again. It is a
powerful catalyst that allows one to See with clarity.

~~~
person_of_color
That's enough to trip

~~~
ssijak
That is why he called it MACROdose and not MICROdose.

------
honksillet
Fun facts, in county jails (and I'm sure in hospitals) there are 3 classes of
drugs that you will get detox medication for: opiods, benzos and alcohol. The
detox meds for alcohol is benzos. The detox med for bezos is more benzos
(although is a controlled, tapered manner). Both these two are much more
dangerous to detox off of than opiods, with alcohol being the most dangerous.
Everything else, cocaine, meth, etc is not particularly dangerous to withdraw
from and usually these patients will not get specific detox medications.

------
mnm1
I've seen plenty of doctors who prescribed benzos and not a single one had any
idea how to taper off their patients properly. Nor was a single one interested
in it. This is a money-making machine for them and they have no interest,
regardless of what's best for the patient. On the other hand, I've gone to
doctors who wanted to stop these cold-turkey risking seizures and death. Those
doctors clearly never heard of the hippocratic oath. I have never seen a
doctor willing to work with a patient to taper off properly. Until we get to
that point, talking about reducing prescriptions is akin to signing possible
death sentences for patients or pushing them to the black market / pill mills.
My own withdrawal took a few months and I did it on my own. It wasn't
pleasant, but it wasn't as horrible as some others' experiences. Basically,
the medical establishment says 'fuck you' by putting you on these meds long-
term, and another 'fuck you and die,' by not knowing how to taper you off
properly or even knowing when it is appropriate. We have a long, long way
before solving this problem, and reducing prescriptions by itself is an
incredibly stupid and cruel way to go about this. I can see why it's being
done this way. Once you become dependent on something like benzos, most
doctors and most of society does not think your life is worth living and they
try their hardest to make it so.

------
rincebrain
It seems like benzos, while sometimes quite powerful, can have really nasty
side effects that some doctors irresponsibly don't disclose, including the
rapid tolerance, rebound properties, and withdrawal in general.

It also seems that, like opiates, it can vary a lot from person to person.

I've been fortunate, and the few times I've had occasion to try taking benzos
for a non-hospital interval, they didn't do anything for me - positive,
negative, or otherwise, without any sort of visible withdrawal effects when we
stopped.

Conversely, there are people I know who have reported nasty side effects and
dependency issues rather rapidly (in my own family, even).

I really think the way to move forward and minimize this see-sawing of public
opinion on necessary evil versus unnecessary tool will be gaining better
insight into people's personal response profiles to these things before and
after giving them the drugs, so you can try to notice "huh, that's a lot
higher concentration of those metabolites than I expect, I guess they process
it fast" or "well that opioid sure is lighting up the reward parts of the
brain, guess they're at decent risk for addiction."

(Unfortunately, I'd speculate we're at least 20y out from anything like that
being ubiquitous/useful, so ...)

------
cc-d
GABAergenics (the class of drug which benzodiazepines fall under) in general
are pretty much the sole class of popular recreational drug which have a very
real possibility of lethal withdrawals.

In the case of alcohol, it often takes years for addicts to reach a point
where withdrawal becomes lethal. In the case of short acting
benzodiazepines/barbiturates, this point can be reached in less than a month.

Of course, benzodiazepines are in schedule IV, which means they are viewed as
being rather benign with no/low potential for abuse. In the eyes of the
federal government, alprazolam (xanax) is far less dangerous than
marijuana/the traditional psychedelics.

Just another data point demonstrating the utter absurdity of US drug
legislation and regulation.

~~~
jnovek
The DEA drug schedule is a hot mess.

[https://www.dea.gov/drug-scheduling](https://www.dea.gov/drug-scheduling)

There's no planet where Ritalin has a higher potential for abuse and addiction
than Xanax. Not to mention all the lower-risk drugs that have been categorized
schedule I for political reasons.

Under the current system _rohypnol_ is schedule IV but has special date rape
laws passed to make possession of it punishable like a schedule I drug as a
workaround.

~~~
cc-d
>There's no planet where Ritalin has a higher potential for abuse and
addiction than Xanax.

Most of the prescription opiates such as Hydromorphone, Oxycodone, etc are
schedule II as well.

>Not to mention all the lower-risk drugs that have been categorized schedule I
for political reasons.

Not just for political reasons (clonazolam would be FAR superior than anything
currently scheduled as a 'date-rape' drug, thanks for keeping us safe
politicians), but also anything 'new' is often placed in schedule I by
default, without any consideration as to the actual properties of the drug.

A great recent example of this is whenever the DEA moved to schedule kratom as
schedule I. Kratom. The DEA, in an age where it gets constant flack for
classifying marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, attempted to classify kratom as
having more potential for abuse than Hydromorphone.

It's an absolute fucking sham, but goodluck seeking a political career while
being seen as anything other than 'TOUGH ON DRUGS!'.

------
daeken
I take 1mg xanax up to once a day (typically every other day) and it has
completely changed my life for the better. In conjunction with propranolol
taken regularly (20mg twice a day, roughly), my anxiety is finally in a fairly
well-controlled state. Unfortunately, getting benzo prescriptions -- even for
the low dosage and frequency I'm on -- is hard and getting harder. Ordering it
online is possible but rife with scams and risks. I understand that some
people abuse these medications but for me they're life-saving; in cracking
down on benzo prescriptions, my anxiety medication is becoming a source of
anxiety in itself.

~~~
peteretep
Have you tried a medication that targets chronic rather than acute anxiety?
You're going to start tolerating the Xanax sooner or later, so you need a plan
for when that starts to happen. Escitalopram has worked great for me, in
addition to propanalol as needed.

------
qubex
According to my psychiatrist (whom I turned to when I realised that I had an
addiction problem I had to deal with) were it not for some highly unusual
metabolic pathways my sixteen-year benzodiazepine habit would have had a
chance to end my life multiple times (as it is I just ended up in ER once
after inadvertently combining a hefty dose of Valium in the morning with a few
celebratory margaritas at midday).

Said pathways have also given me the privilege of being able to quit cold
turkey (in the se se that I suffered no crippling withdrawal symptoms or
rebound effects, but man is it difficult to break the _habit_ ).

I count myself amongst the very lucky.

------
code_duck
I’m pleased to see this getting more attention. I find the memory-erasing drug
of these effects to be unpleasant, and duration disturbing. If you take three
of them, the next day 24 hours later or you may still have blood plasma like
one pill or more, depending on which benzo it is. Most people don’t understand
drug half life and are unaware of that. Then if you mix in cannabis or
alcohol, things start to get really dangerous memory-wise. These drugs are
prescribed fairly casually to people who don’t have any serious medical or
psychological conditions, and in my observation are treated equally casually
by consumers.

~~~
tnecniv
> If you take three of them

One should note that "three of them" is (probably) a lot. Even half a pill is
often sufficient to quell panic attacks.

~~~
code_duck
They are widely abused recreationally, too, typically in higher doses.

Half-life of Xanax varies between 6 and 29 hours, averaging 11.5 hours. A
“pill” is an arbitrary amount and that’s not what I’m referring to. It’s the
proportion that still affects you hours later and how long it lasts that
matters, including that dosages can overlap.

It’s also important to note that tolerance develops of these drugs. Half a
pill to you might be two for someone who is taking them every day for years.
Tolerance to various effects develops to different extents, and perceived,
subjective tolerance to dosages and impairment may be exceeded by measurable
motor skill and judgment reduction.

If you take half a pill, you’re still on more than a quarter of a pill when
you wake up the next day. If you take another half pill, you will be on more
than a half pill.

------
seancoleman
For anyone looking to quit benzodiazepines, the Ashton Manual is the canonical
resource: [https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/](https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/)

~~~
winstonsmith
The Ashton Manual is good resource, but the state of the art taper method as
far as I know is the liquid titration (via suspension, not solution) micro-
taper. See, e.g.,
[https://www.google.com/search?q=benzobuddies+micro+taper+liq...](https://www.google.com/search?q=benzobuddies+micro+taper+liquid)
.

------
Ftuuky
My mother had insomnia and her doctor prescribed some benzo (can't remember
which) _3 times per day_. She would take one in the morning and spend the rest
of the day sleeping or calling random people with super weird conversations. I
went back to the doctor with her demanding why he prescribed such a strong
medicine 3 times per day when her problem was having difficulties falling
asleep, and he says "oh she looked like she has anxiety". I wanted to punch
him in the face. These doctors prescribe whatever the pharma marketeers pay
them to prescribe.

------
Karrot_Kream
I feel for the patients that actually need a benzo to lead a normal,
functioning lifestyle. Due to the actions of abusers it seems the public is
starting to distrust medication.

~~~
jnovek
A similar situation has already played out with people who deal with chronic
pain and opiods. Stricter laws may reduce abuse but they have a chilling
effect on prescribing physicians.

~~~
TylerE
I don't think the laws even reduce abuse. If anything, they move people from
prescribed, professionally manufactured drugs with some degree of monitoring
to the black market.

------
lmpostor
Dirt cheap, "synergizes" with alcohol, street presses being incredibly
overdosed, it is weird seeing the writing on the wall then watch it be inked
into existence.

------
toonervoustosay
I've found Hemp-based CBD flower a viable alternative to benzos. There are a
few farm-to-customer websites where you can order it for a much more
reasonable price than full-spectrum cannabis. If anyone out there wants to rid
a benzo dependency, try CBD flower. The effects are rather immediate (due to
inhalation).

------
UpshotKnothole
A friend of mine got hooked on heroin and ended up on methadone maintence.
He’s since managed to get off that and is clean, but he had horror stories of
people on methadone abusing benzodiazepines like crazy. Apparently mixing
methadone and high doses of drugs like Xanax produce effects similar to
heroin, but benzos are really hard to get off. He talked about a woman who
couldn’t get her Xanax fix, and she started having seizures. Benzodiazepines
take months to titrate off safely, and higher doses associated with abuse do
unpleasant things to your seizure threshold and memory.

Bad stuff unless you must have it.

~~~
stryk
It is incredibly, _incredibly_ dangerous to mix benzodiazepines (Xanax,
Ativan, etc.) with Methadone. This is common knowledge amongst opiate addicts,
at least everywhere I ever went in the US back in my wilder days. I have 3
close friends whom I grew up with that all died before age 30 from abusing
that exact combination of narcotics, and know of countless more just in my
home state alone.

Benzos are a respiratory depressant, and when combined with Methadone it
amplifies it to the point where you stop breathing in your sleep and never
wake up from respiratory failure, lack of oxygen to the brain, or your body
freaks out and has a coronary episode, etc. it's really really risky -- no
joke & no exaggeration. If alcohol is in the mix too then it's even worse.

And I'm not going to pretend like it's not enjoyable -- because it is. It's a
great fuckin' buzz if downers are your thing. IMO it's better than heroin (no
'rush' to it, but the effects hit you like a ton of bricks and it lasts all
night long. And it's a cheap buzz too), but it's also asking for your life to
end.

methadone clinics know this and every one that I've ever seen, heard of, or
been to personally Benzos are their one big 'no-no' [as in: if we find it in
your Whiz Quiz we kick you out, some won't even give you a second chance and
most clinics have mandatory urine screening twice a month, some every week].
You can test positive for damn near anything else -- and they expect you to
test positive for opiates -- but if you have benzos in there then you kick
rocks.

~~~
mnm1
Do you have a source for this "common knowledge"? I've seen plenty of people
on methadone do just fine with benzos, especially if they take prescribed
doses. I'm not so sure this isn't some bullshit pushed by doctors without
evidence so that they have an excuse to stop treating their patients and leave
them without benzos in a state where they are forced to either go to the black
market or potentially withdraw and die. I've seen a lot of this from doctors
as regards to methadone patients, trying to take people who have been on
benzos for years or decades off without proper tapering and without a proper
reason. It's almost as if they think of methadone patients as less than human,
creatures whose lives are not of value. Wait, not almost. Whatever happened to
the hippocratic oath?

~~~
stryk
I mean I cannot link you to a direct source, it was just something everyone
knew, ya know 'common knowledge'. This was on both coasts as well as the
midwest.

And it was explained to me at 3 different clinics in 3 different areas of the
country that it was really about #1) liability -- particularly at clinics that
accepted insurance for payment but not exclusively, there were cash-only ones
with the same rule: No Benzos full-stop. If you had a legit prescription for
xanax or ativan then they would send a letter to the prescribing doctor and
would not dose you until they got an affirmative, positive response -- and to
a somewhat lesser extent #2) they know it has the real potential to be fatal,
and they're not monsters they don't want to kill all the junkies. Despite what
you might think, some of them actually do give a shit and got into substance
abuse medicine trying to help. Sure, for some it's just a job, and if you own
the clinic it's a gold-shitting goose, but there are a lot of them who are
genuinely trying to do good.

~~~
mnm1
Taking patients off benzos without properly tapering them off can lead to
death. Some clinics are putting their own liability worries ahead of patients'
well-being and risking patients lives in the process. It's not every place,
but the places that do this clearly do not have the patients' best interests
in mind. It's hard not to think that it's because they are dealing with
addicts that they even consider such actions. The way addicts are treated at
some clinics is simply unbelievable. They are lied to, disrespected, and
ignored. That's bad enough but putting their lives in danger based on
something that's allegedly common knowledge but hasn't even been studied is
beyond preposterous. However as you say, they are raking in the dough so what
do they care. It's not everywhere, but it's like that at a lot of clinics.

