Benzodiazepine Tales from the Office - Defining Success and Sharing Stories

Sunday, April 26, 2026

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM PT

Location: Harbor A-C, Level 2

Presenter(s)

Anthony J. Accurso, MD, FASAM, AAHIVS

Medical Director of Addiction Medicine
Bergen New Bridge Medical Center
Paramus, New Jersey

Handouts
Sonya Del Tredici, MD

Academic Internist and Lead Physician for Addiction Services
WellSpan Health
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Slides Handouts

A year after the release of the ASAM Joint Clinical Practice Guideline on Benzodiazepine Tapering, clinicians on the front lines are having to learn and adapt. This interactive session will quickly cover the essentials of benzodiazepine prescribing and then move on to interactive small group case discussions from actual cases. Attendees will grapple with predictions of outcomes before actual outcome of each tale will be revealed. A final discussion topic will be defining the word "success" in regard to tapering.

Learning Objectives:

Learners will be able to:

Upon completion, participants will be able to: apply the ASAM practice guidelines to specific cases, including calculation of dose benzodiazepine dose equivalents and proper interpretation of urine drug testing.
Upon completion, participants will be able to: Utilize strategies to empower and motivate patients toward a shared goal of tapering.
Upon completion, participants will be able to: think critically about the meaning of the word “success” within the context of benzodiazepine prescribing, balancing the concept of taper vs. retention in treatment vs. life functioning.

Disclosure(s):

Anthony J. Accurso, MD, FASAM, AAHIVS: No financial relationships to disclose

Sonya Del Tredici, MD: No financial relationships to disclose