House of Commons - Health - Minutes of Evidence
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmselect/cmhealth/549/99072723.htm
16. In 1993-94 the Benzodiazepine Litigation ended owing to the withdrawal of Legal Aid Board funding. Over £50 million pounds was spent on legal aid and by the drug companies. Since this event the number of prescriptions for all Sedative/Hypnotic drugs has increased by several per cent overall, and that for Valium has increased by 15 per cent (1994-97). The prescribing of the new Sedative/Hypnotic drugs Zolpidem and Zopiclone, which act on the Benzodiazepine receptors has risen dramatically and is now about two million per year. It is very significant that the number of adverse reactions (No/yr/106 pres.) reported for these drugs is very much greater (x100) than for any of the Benzodiazepines. This coincides with many reports to support groups of dependency on these drugs. It appears that the lessons of history have not been learnt and there is an additional dependency epidemic in the making.
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