[Prescribed drugs are used in suicides by drug poisoning].

Abstract

In 2019, 829 people died from drug poisoning according to the National Board of Forensic Medicine's database, of which 269 (32 percent) were assessed as suicide, 354 (43 percent) as unintentional poisonings and 206 (25 percent) as poisonings of undetermined intent. The proportion of the deceased that had a filled prescription (within one year preceding the death) for the substance that contributed to the death varied considerable between substances. The highest proportion of fatalities with a dispensed prescription was seen in intoxications with propiomazine (88 percent), zopiclone (85 percent) and alimemazine (84 percent). A filled prescription was very common amongst suicides, but less common amongst unintentional poisonings. When put in relation to sales of pharmaceuticals affecting the nervous system (ATC code N) in Sweden, however, the number of fatalities is low.