The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Pam Pinto honored for awareness event
TORRINGTON — A city woman is among a growing number of patients or their family members who are learning to recognize symptoms caused by prolonged use of common pharmaceuticals called benzodiazepines.
According to the website wbad.org, benzodiazepines, if taken for more than a few months, or even a few weeks, can cause physical dependence in some people.
To highlight the concern over the use of such medicines, Pam Pinto, owner of Act Natural and Wellness store on Water Street, held an awareness event on Wednesday to coincide with World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day.
A proclamation from Gov. Dannel Malloy naming it W-BAD day in Connecticut was presented to Pinto
by state Rep. Michelle Cook, D-Torrington.
The proclamation read, in part “... awareness advocates have called attention to the importance of regulations and safe practice methods for prescribing benzodiazepines.”
Pinto became aware of the side effects that the widely prescribed medicine had on her 81-year old mother, Shirley Temple, and decided to inform others about her concern.
Temple said she was so affected by the medicine that she couldn’t remember the episode that landed her in the emergency room after Pinto found her unresponsive on the kitchen floor.
“Benzodiazepines can aid in the management of certain medical conditions,” Cook wrote in a statement, “but it is indispensable to understand the potential side effects of these drugs and the detrimental impact they can have on one’s health.”