Safe Tapering of Benzodiazepines: Insights from Joint Clinical Practice Guideline

Friday, April 25, 2025

1:15 PM – 2:30 PM

Presenter(s)

Emily Brunner, MD, DFASAM

Addiction Medicine Specialist
Gateway Recovery, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Chinyere Ogbonna, MD, MPH

Medical Director, Addiction Medicine & Recovery Services
Kaiser Permanente San Jose
San Jose, California
TW

Tricia E. Wright, MD, MS, FACOG, DFASAM

Professor and Medical Director OBIC
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California

This workshop will summarize the new Joint Clinical Practice Guideline on Benzodiazepine Tapering. Key
takeaways from the guideline will be discussed, utilizing case scenarios for application of knowledge.
Topics for discussion will include patient engagement and shared decision-making, level of care
considerations, BZD tapering strategies, BZD withdrawal management, discharge planning, and
population-specific considerations.

Learning Objectives:

Learners will be able to:

Apply the key clinical takeaways for safely tapering benzodiazepines based upon the Joint Clinical Practice Guideline for Benzodiazepine Tapering.
Recognize strategies for patient engagement and shared decision-making during BZD tapering.
Identify complications associated with rapid BZD discontinuation and how to prevent them.

Disclosure(s):

Chinyere Ogbonna, MD, MPH: No financial relationships to disclose

Tricia E. Wright, MD MS FACOG DFASAM: No financial relationships to disclose