Prescribing of Benzodiazepine and related medications for flying/procedures

West Wirral Group Practice have taken the decision to not prescribe Benzodiazepine and other related medication for the following cases:

Fear of Flying
Dental procedures
Scans
Hospital procedures

There are several reasons that this decision has been made and they are set out below:

Diazepam is a sedative resulting to making you sleepy and more relaxed. In the event of an emergency during a flight, this may impair your ability to concentre, follow instructions and react to situations safely and in a timely manner. This could then have serious consequences for you and those around you.
A small number of people find the effects of benzodiazepines the opposite to the desired sedating affect and can become aggressive. Benzodiazepines can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally. This could impact your safety, that of other passengers and result in legal action being taken against you.
Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep into an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means that you move around a lot less than during natural sleep. This minimised movement can put you at an increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or lung. This can be very dangerous even fatal, and this risk increases more if your flight is greater than 4 hours.
Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in several countries. They may be confiscated, or you may find yourself in trouble with the police.
Diazepam stays in your system for quite a while. If you job requires you to submit a random drug test you mail fail this having taken diazepam.
According to the national prescribing guidelines that doctors follow (The British National Formulary, or BNF) benzodiazepines are not allowed to be prescribed in cases of phobia. Therefore, your doctor would be taking a legal risk if they were to prescribe for fear of flying. Benzodiazepines are only licenced short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety.

If you require for a dental procedure, scan or hospital procedure please contact you dentist or consultant to discuss this further as we are unable to prescribe..