Medical events after a prescription for a benzodiazepine

Abstract Much controversy has surrounded triazolam since it was marketed in the late 1970s. In spite of ongoing debate no major pharmacoepidiomological study has been published, comparing triazolam to other benzodiazepines (BZD). The present study examines the occurrence of medical events after a prescription for one of five BZD. Data was obtained from the Saskatchewan Health Data Bases on all persons who received a prescription for one of triazolam, flurazepam, oxazepam, lorazepam or diazepam, not having had a prescription for any of these in the previous six months. These persons were monitored for eight types of medical events. (1. suicides and attempts, 2. depression, 3. other psychiatric condition, 4. traffic accident injury, 5. injury due to falls, 6. injury due to poisoning, 7. seizures, 8. allergic reactions) for three weeks after their prescription for the BZD. Rates for medical events were compared to those in an unexposed population sample. It was concluded that, on the whole, triazolam does not appear to show a record of hospitalization worse than the other five BZD tested. In general, BZD should be used cautiously, judiciously and at the lowest possible dose.