BACKGROUND Repeated drug overdose is a major risk factor for suicide. Data are lacking on the effect of psychiatric intervention on preventing repeated drug overdose. AIMS To investigate whether psychiatric intervention was associated with reduced readmission to emergency centres due to drug overdose. METHOD Using a Japanese national in-patient database, we identified patients who were firs...

Drug users frequently witness the nonfatal and fatal drug overdoses of their peers, but often fail to intervene effectively to reduce morbidity and mortality. We assessed the circumstances of witnessed heroin-related overdoses in New York City (NYC) among a predominantly minority population of drug users. Among 1184 heroin, crack, and cocaine users interviewed between November 2001 and February...

BACKGROUND In New York City (NYC), the annual mortality rate is higher for accidental drug overdoses than for homicides; cocaine and opiates are the drugs most frequently associated with drug overdose deaths. We assessed trends and correlates of cocaine- and opiate-related overdose deaths in NYC during 1990-2000. METHODS Data were collected from the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (O...

This study investigated causes and manner of drug-related fatalities recorded in 2000 in the United Kingdom, measuring the 'masked' manner of death in cases typically recorded as overdose. A retrospective cohort study was used of 1037 cases of accidental drug-related fatalities reported by coroners in England and Wales to the National Programme of Substance Abuse Deaths. Whilst 802 cases were i...

BACKGROUND Non-fatal overdose is a major determinant of morbidity among injection drug users (IDU). We sought to evaluate factors associated with non-fatal overdose among IDU in Vancouver. METHODS We examined non-fatal overdose among participants in the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study. Correlates of non-fatal overdose occurring between 1996 and 2004 were identified using generalized esti...

Introduction Drug overdoses and related deaths have been escalating nationally since 19701. In Virginia, the rate of drug overdose deaths increased 36% from 5.0 to 6.8 deaths per 100,000 population between 1999 and 20102. While initiated for bioterrorism event detection, syndromic surveillance has shown utility when extended to other health issues. ED visits may complement information from Over...

STUDY OBJECTIVE Emergency physicians have an opportunity to provide overdose fatality prevention interventions to individuals at risk for experiencing or witnessing an overdose to reduce fatality. The present study uses data about the most recent overdose observed by a sample of inner-city drug users to determine the circumstances of overdose that are associated with overdose fatality. METHOD...

EMERGENCY nurse 17 Antipsychotic drugs (or neuroleptics) are a large class of drugs which can be divided into three groups: phenothiazine, miscellaneous and atypical (Box 1). They are used to tranquillise patients without impairing consciousness and without causing paradoxical excitement. They are often referred to as major tranquillisers but this is misleading since these drugs also relieve fl...