Mark Leeds, D.O. PA Launches FloridaTaper.com, a Free Educational Resource on Benzodiazepine Tapering, Withdrawal, and BIND
The new website from Mark Leeds, D.O. PA offers more than 60 physician-written articles, with new articles published daily, for patients, families, and clinicians navigating slow benzodiazepine dose reductions.
Fort Lauderdale, FL, July 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mark Leeds, D.O. PA, a Florida medical practice focused on benzodiazepine and psychiatric medication tapering, has launched FloridaTaper.com, a free educational website covering benzodiazepine tapering, withdrawal, and BIND (Benzodiazepine-Induced Neurological Dysfunction). The practice is led by Mark Leeds, D.O., whose clinical work centers on slow, individualized dose reductions.
Mark Leeds, D.O., founder of Florida Taper
Benzodiazepine tapering remains one of the most under-taught areas of clinical medicine. Patients who take these medications long term are rarely given complete information about tolerance, dependence, or the slow timelines that many tapers require. When withdrawal symptoms emerge, they are often misread as a relapse of the original condition or as a new psychiatric illness.
Florida Taper was created to close that information gap. The site publishes careful, evidence-informed articles in plain language, informed by the Ashton Manual and the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines. Coverage includes slow and hyperbolic tapering methods, tolerance withdrawal, kindling, BIND and its symptoms, and deprescribing topics involving related medications such as Z-drugs, gabapentinoids, and antipsychotics, along with informed-consent issues in long-term prescribing. The site already offers more than 60 articles, publishes new material daily, and includes a free chat assistant that helps visitors find answers drawn from the site's content.
The site also addresses a distinction that is frequently overlooked in clinical settings: the difference between physical dependence and addiction. For the large majority of patients, long-term benzodiazepine use produces physical dependence, an expected physiological adaptation, rather than addiction, which is a separate condition with different features. Florida Taper explains why this distinction matters in practice. Patients who are physically dependent but not addicted are sometimes routed to addiction-focused detox or rehab programs, where excessively rapid tapering and other inappropriate treatment can cause serious harm.
"Patients who want to reduce or stop a benzodiazepine are too often handed a schedule that is far too fast, or no plan at all," said Dr. Leeds. "Florida Taper explains, in plain language, what a slow, individualized taper looks like and why the pace matters. It is the resource I wish every patient and prescriber had before the first dose reduction."
Beyond the website, Florida Taper distributes educational content across major social media platforms to bring tapering-related information to the wider public. Dr. Leeds also hosts The Rehab Podcast, published on the Mental Health News Radio Network and on YouTube, featuring interviews with industry leaders in benzodiazepine awareness, deprescribing, and mental health. He serves on the medical advisory board of the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and provides concierge telemedicine consultations to patients throughout Florida. Information about his practice is available at https://drleeds.com.
Content published on FloridaTaper.com is educational and is not a substitute for individualized medical care. Readers are advised not to change any prescribed medication without the supervision of a qualified physician.
About Florida Taper
Florida Taper (https://floridataper.com) is a free educational resource for patients, families, and clinicians navigating benzodiazepine tapering, psychiatric medication deprescribing, withdrawal, and BIND. New articles are published daily.
About Mark Leeds, D.O., P.A.
Mark Leeds, D.O. P.A. is an osteopathic physician practice based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, focused on benzodiazepine and psychiatric medication tapering through slow, individualized dose reductions. He serves on the medical advisory board of the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and practices concierge telemedicine throughout Florida. He hosts The Rehab Podcast on the Mental Health News Radio Network. Learn more at https://drleeds.com.
Press Inquiries
Mark Leeds, D.O.
info [at] drleeds.com
954-776-6226
https://drleeds.com
A video accompanying this announcement is available here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4r08kzRnnvA
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