Deaths of drug addicts in the United Kingdom 1967-81. Issue 6466 (9th February 1985)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Deaths of drug addicts in the United Kingdom 1967-81. Issue 6466 (9th February 1985)
- Main Title:
- Deaths of drug addicts in the United Kingdom 1967-81.
- Authors:
- Ghodse, A H
Sheehan, M
Taylor, C
Edwards, G - Abstract:
- Abstract : A search of the Home Office index of notified drug addicts identified 1499 deaths during 1967-81, of which 226 (15%) were of therapeutic addicts--that is, patients who had become addicted during medical treatment with a notifiable drug--and 1273 (85%) were of non-therapeutic addicts. The crude mortality fell from 23.5/1000/year for the period 1968-70 to 18.4/1000/year for 1978-80. Altogether 416 addicts aged under 50 at notification died after 1972, which was 16 times the number of deaths expected in a population with a similar age and sex composition. A more detailed examination of the cohorts of addicts notified each year showed little variation between them in the first two years of follow up. Nineteen addicts (1.6%) had died by 31 December of the year of their notification and 39 (3.3%) one year later. These figures may be an indication of the clinical course of addiction. Most deaths of non-therapeutic addicts in which a drug was implicated (939 cases (74%] were due to medically prescribed drugs--barbiturates at first and later opiates such as dipipanone hydrochloride and dextromoramide. Heroin was implicated in only 65 (7%) of these deaths. The Home Office index is a valuable source for identifying drugs of abuse and serious problems of addiction. The fact that prescribed drugs are causing the death of so many addicts demands a response from the medical profession.
- Is Part Of:
- BMJ. Volume 290:Issue 6466(1985)
- Journal:
- BMJ
- Issue:
- Volume 290:Issue 6466(1985)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 290, Issue 6466 (1985)
- Year:
- 1985
- Volume:
- 290
- Issue:
- 6466
- Issue Sort Value:
- 1985-0290-6466-0000
- Page Start:
- 425
- Page End:
- 428
- Publication Date:
- 1985-02-09
- Subjects:
- Medicine -- Periodicals
Medicine -- Periodicals
Medicine
Periodicals
610 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.bmj.com/archive ↗
http://www.jstor.org/journals/09598138.html ↗
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/3/ ↗
http://www.bmj.com/bmj/ ↗
http://www.bmj.com/archive ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1136/bmj.290.6466.425 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0007-1447
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 26646.xml