Britain is becoming a nation of prescription drug addicts with painkillers killing more people than cocaine and heroin

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© GETTYMore people have died after taking tranquilliser and painkillers than class A drug heroin
Nearly 1.5 million patients are hooked on benzodiazepine tranquillisers, it is believed.

And new figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that last year 807 people died after taking tranquillisers and painkillers, compared with 718 who fell victim to heroin and cocaine.

Cathryn Kemp, author of Painkiller Addict: From Wreckage To Redemption, said: "We are a medicated nation.".

One woman, 51, said she had been prescribed diazepam for more than 13 years but finally managed to get off the drug helped by advice she found on the internet. "The drug wrecked my life," she said. Critics blame doctors for over-prescribing drugs and fear Britain is at risk of following the US where more than 16,000 people a year die from painkiller prescription overdoses.

In America celebrity victims include model Anna Nicole Smith in 2007, film star Heath Ledger in 2008 and singer Michael Jackson in 2009.

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Anna Nicole died from an overdose
Labour MP Jim Dobbin, chairman of the all-party group on involuntary tranquilliser addiction, said: "Lives are being destroyed and people are being left without the help and support they need."

The Department of Health last night denied it had been complacent, saying it had endorsed an agreement earlier this year by medical professional bodies on how to address addiction.