Analysis of psychotropic drug-related deaths in south Osaka

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of deaths due to psychotropic drugs in south Osaka during a 10-year period and discuss societal factors from a medical viewpoint. METHODS: Psychotropic drug-related deaths were retrospectively investigated based on the forensic postmortem data of 1,746 decedents in 2005–2014, and we excluded cases in which stimulant drugs were detected. Of these, 133 cases (7.6%) were found to be psychotropic drug-related deaths and were analyzed. RESULTS: Psychotropic drug-related deaths occurred in 78 males (59%; age range, 14–95 years) and 55 females (41%; 20–84 years). The direct cause of death was acute drug intoxication in many cases, and of these, acute combined drug intoxication due to the use of multiple drugs accounted for 76% of the deaths. Most of these victims were found to have gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases. Cases of psychotropic drug-related deaths had especially poor medical conditions. In addition, tests were positive for blood alcohol in 23% of the cases. CONCLUSION: The descriptive results revealed several factors that may be related to psychotropic drug-related deaths. To prevent drug abuse, several factors were deemed to be important, including improvements in the medical state of an individual, the avoidance of social isolation, and from a medical standpoint, the management of prescription drugs by medical personnel.