Doctors and therapists have no law -- or little law. They are self regulated by their own trade associations. The only thing usually an individual can do if there's significant financial consequences is sue for malpractice, but if there's not a lot of money involved no lawyer will take the case. They're very hard to win, because doctors always lie and their colleagues do as well -- that's why it became easier to win these cases, judges got tired of docs never testifying against one another. You can file a grievance, I would think, with the local disciplinary board, but as medicine is so uncertain despite what docs tell you, again, it has to be egregious to get any action. You can try anything you want -- sue, threaten to sue, file with the local grievance authority (which, again, is made up of a committee of the relevant trade association, such as the AMA), or you can leave the past behind and move on.
I had the same exact symptoms coming off of Effexor and other anti-depressants.
Does anyone know if there is anything I can do, other than repot them for the HIPAA violation?
How is this not against the law?!
Professor Heather Ashton is the doc. Google the Ashton Manual. You can read the whole thing online.
Just google benzo discontinuation -- the stories are endless. I can't remember the psychiatrist in England who has written several research papers on a condition called Protracted Withdrawal Syndrome, which I have from Paxil, and she estimated benzos have this outcome 10-15% of the time. As for the seizure problem, that's such widespread knowledge it's a given. I would think if you research any benzo manufacturer's website, you will see the FDA required black box warning not to quit abruptly, and will probably find seizures listed as one of the reasons for that. Because the FDA has acted on this with not only benzos but also with antidepressants and required these warnings, and because so many lawsuits have been filed and won, it would be hard not to find this information with a basic google search.
You probably signed away any rights you might have when you entered the program. Many rehab facilities use cold turkey stoppages, despite all evidence being to the contrary. That's where a lot of the evidence of the dangers of stopping benzos cold turkey came from -- a psychiatrist in England who had worked at a rehab facility. Perhaps you could get your psychiatrist involved, or copy the information about the dangers of quitting benzos cold turkey. Of course, it's probably just as stupid to cold turkey quit methadone, but that's what these facilities do. Good luck.