This Chapter is a continuation of my investigation of the off-label use by general dentists of the notoriously dangerous sleeping pill, Halcion (triazolam), the disabling effects it had on my daughter, and alternative treatments. The blog is mostly about the fraud that kept Halcion on the U.S. market after it was banned in the UK, the fraud behind its off-label promotion as a dental sedative, and the fraud that got it on the market in the first place.
For background, go to www.brainrobber.com and start with December, 2009 or go to Chapter 125 for a topic index (September, 2010.
This quote from a Tennessee dentist first shows how little some dentists know about a drug they are using routinely (and at high doses), and, second, how readily they look to blame its side effects on anything but the drug itself. This dentist was probably more cautious than many, nevertheless, he is clearly unaware that the drug can do even worse than what it did to his patient.
Possibly a codeine drug taken previously by the patient INHIBITED the metabolism of Halcion, causing exaggerated effects, however, I’ve included on this blog so much evidence about Halcion’s side effects that no one should question whether the drug, by itself, can cause the very symptoms this patient experienced.
Also important to note is that smoking cigarettes, believe it or not, does NOT inhibit Halcion metabolism. According to the book on toxicology I read by Doull, smoking actually enhances Halcion metabolism. So the patient’s smoking habit had nothing to do with the drug reaction – if anything it might have lessened the effects.
(Since I am not a smoker and, being chemically sensitive, I am very adversely affected by tobacco smoke, I find this information quite incredible, by the way.)
Anyway, in the end, the dentist probably did NOT file a reaction report on Halcon/triazolam, because he made up his mind that Halcion/triazolam was not the problem, that his patient being a “druggie” was the issue, despite what the doctor who saw the patient afterward concluded.
Also remember from one of my previous posts that Jason Goodchild, whose patient began hallucinating in the office after one .5 mg dose, concluded and allegedly confirmed that the patient had been taking too many other drugs (in that case also a codeine drug). So certainly he, a close associate of DOCS, was not going to report this adverse reaction to triazolam.
Therefore, what we have, in effect, is dentists and promoters continuing to act as if there have been no adverse effects associated with triazolam/Halcion used as a dental sedative.
Even three years after John Coleman’s death, there is very little said about it within the dental community.
And thus, the lie and the justification of this off-label practice continues.
And it probably will until one day when someone jumps off a roof and it is discovered that the victim had been at the dentist just hours earlier — and then only if someone makes the connection
As you read this paraphrased comment, KEEP IN MIND that the maximum daily recommended dose for Halcion/triazolam is 0.25 mg – and that is WITHOUT adding any local anesthesia or Nitrous Oxide and NOT administering it sublingually as dentists do. Keep in mind that this is an off-label, experimental use of a drug banned in the UK because of its NARROW margin of safety and dangerous side effects with absolutely no studies showing safety or efficacy used as a dental sedative, despite promoters’ claims. Even Greenblatt, an avid supporter of the drug’s use as a sleeping pill, says .5 mg is too high a dose for oral sedation. “The hazards of sustained sedative effects lasting beyond 8
hours following 0.5 mg triazolam are well recognized, ” Greenblatt says in his 2006
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This dentist, whom I’ll assume is male, had a patient needing a tooth pulled who had a reported history of rheumatoid arthritis, for which he took 40 mg of oxycontin daily. The patient also reported taking Lunesta every night and taking hydrocodone PRN pain. He smoked 1 to 2 packs of cigarettes daily.
The patient requested sedation for the procedure, insisted on it. He also wanted mepergan fortis for pain, which he’d gotten before with a procedure done by an oral surgeon and reported he’d undergone multiple sedations in the past with the oral surgeon w/out incident.
Apparently, however, the oral surgeon used an IV, not triazolam, which this dentist fails to mention in his comment. He assumes, based on this info, that the patient was a “serious druggie.”
The dentist said he contacted the patient’s physician, who informed him that the patient could be safely sedated with triazolam as long as he’d refrained from the oxycontin for 8 hours.
The dentist says he began treatment after the patient reported no oxycontin for the last 12 hours and signed the chart. A max of .5 mg of triazolam was used, according to the comment, and the extraction was completed “w/out incident.” An evening phone call check revealed the patient was still asleep.
The next day, however, the patient’s wife came into the office to ask what the dentist had given her husband. She said that after sleeping 16 hours, her husband woke up “shaking,” and got worse thoughout the day “…until he had cold sweats. She said he was dizzy, acting paranoid and confused.”
She took him to the hospital, the commentary continues, where it was decided her husband had had an allergic reaction to triazolam. His physician then said the patient should probably “…avoid triazolam in the future.”
Because this dentist making the comment was apparently not educated about this drug – and he wouldn’t be alone in that – he assumed in the end, that what happened didn’t “sound like an allergic reaction” to him – that it sounded more like withdrawal from the patient having missed an oxycontin dose or “nicotine withdrawal from 16 hrs of not smoking.”
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Tags: Dentists Should Know the Drug They Use, Halcion/triazolam Famous Bizarre Effects, Psychosis NOT Uncommon w/Halcion/Triazolam
