PE1651 is by Marion Brown, on behalf of Recovery and Renewal, on prescribed drug dependence and withdrawal. We have received what is possibly the largest number of written submissions for any petition, certainly since I have been involved, and we thank all those who have taken the time to make those submissions. I also thank the clerks for the massive job that they have had to do with the submissions to protect people’s privacy.
The majority of submissions are from people sharing their stories about their experiences of taking certain medications and the range of symptoms they subsequently experienced. They include stories about on-going acute symptoms and the impact of those symptoms. As members know, we are not in a position to investigate or intervene in individual cases. However, it would be inappropriate not to recognise that there are in excess of a hundred individual cases behind the submissions. So, although we cannot look at individual cases, we can do something to signpost people to the places where they might find support.
Organisations that might be able to provide people with, or direct them to, appropriate professional support include the British Medical Association, which supports the aims of the petition and might therefore be a good point of contact, as might the Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry, which provides support to the all-party parliamentary group on prescribed drug dependence.
We will use all submissions that we receive as we go about our job of considering the policy action called for in the petition, which asks for the Scottish Government to take action to appropriately recognise and effectively support individuals who have been affected and harmed by prescribed drug dependence and withdrawal.
The clerks’ note provides a summary of the evidence that we heard from the Minister for Mental Health in January, as well as recent developments in relation to the action called for in the petition.
In her written submission, the petitioner indicates that there is
“no informed support whatsoever for people in Scotland”
and urges the Scottish Government to support the introduction of a helpline, such as that supported by the BMA.
One development that the committee might wish to note is the announcement by Public Health England in January of a year-long review into the evidence on the scale and nature of problems with some prescription medicines and how they can be prevented and treated. Members might wish to note that the BMA held a prescribed drugs stakeholder round-table meeting last week. The petitioner was invited to attend that meeting and, in recent correspondence with the clerks, has indicated that the meeting was “generally positive and constructive”.
Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?