THE DAVID HORROBIN
CONTROVERSY
THE BENZODIAZEPINE / CANCER DEBATE
Ray Nimmo, March 15, 2012
Ray Nimmo, March 15, 2012
David Frederick Horrobin (1939-2003) was a medical researcher,
professor, author and editor. Born in Bolton, England, he studied medicine at
Balliol College, Oxford, obtaining degrees in both medicine and surgery and
earned a doctorate in neurophysiology and neuroendocrinology. On completing his
pre-clinical work, Dr Horrobin became a fellow of Magdalen College in 1963.
Following participation in the Flying Doctor Service in east Africa, Dr Horrobin
was appointed as professor and chairman of medical physiology at Nairobi
University in Kenya. In 1972, he moved to the University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
where he was appointed as a reader in medical physiology. In 1975, he became a
professor of medicine at the University of Montreal. Dr Horrobin was the author
of over 800 publications, including around 500 scientific papers.
In the late 1970s / early 1980s while at the University of
Montreal Professor Horrobin conducted research into a possible link between
Valium (diazepam) and cancer and published his findings: 'Diazepam Said To Be a
Tumour Promotor at Therapeutic Levels', CFP News, February 1981, pp192-194
and 'The
possible effect of diazepam on cancer development and growth', Horrobin, D.
F. and Trosko, J. E., Med Hypoth 1981; 7: 117-127.
A report on Dr Horrobin's work published in the Globe and Mail sparked a row which was conducted in letters
to the editors of The
Lancet and New Scientist. Dr Horrobin claimed he
subsequently lost his £20,000-a-year (around £100,000 today) job because of his
controversial research into the potential carcinogenic effects of diazepam.
Below are a sample of news articles published in 1981. See also
some more recent research headed by Dr Daniel Kripke which explores
the link between benzodiazepines / Z drugs and mortality including
cancer.
