Deaths of drug addicts in the United Kingdom 1967-81

Most deaths of non-therapeutic addicts in which a drug was implicated were due to medically prescribed drugs--barbiturates at first and later opiates such as dipipanone hydrochloride and dextromoramide.

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 (16%) 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.