[Doping in sports. Cases reported to the Poison Control Center of Marseille from 1992 to 2000].

Objective: To study the doping substances used in sport and their toxicity.

Methods: Retrospective analysis from January 1992 to December 2000 of the cases of use of doping substances in sport reported by telephone to the anti-poison center in Marseilles.

Results: Fifty-one cases were reported concerning 48 men and 3 women with a mean age of 30, ranging from 10 to 55 years.

[Accidental narcotic and buprenorphine poisoning in children notified at the Marseille Poison Center between 1993 and 1999].

To evaluate the frequency and severity of accidental poisoning in children by narcotics or buprenorphine, a retrospective study was carried out: 75 cases were collected by the Marseille Poison Centre between 1993 and 1999. Most of the patients were between 1 and 3 years old and the drugs involved were cannabis and, more recently, Subutex (buprenorphine). These two drugs were responsible for the most severe cases of poisoning, most of which occurred at home.

[Study of narcotics and buprenorphine prescriptions in the Provence-Alps-Côte d'Azur region].

Following the setting up by the Government of their project for the management of drug addicts, and under the guidance of the CEIP (Centre d'Evaluation et d'Information sur les Pharmacodépendances [Centre for Evaluation and Information on Drug Addiction]) in Marseille, a survey of prescriptions written on controlled-drug prescription pads was performed. The aims were threefold: to study the medicines prescribed, to follow up the legislation and to inform doctors and pharmacists. Copies of the prescriptions, dated between 1 January 1996 and 30 June 1996, which were sent by 81 per cent of the 216 pharmacies contacted in 15 towns in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region were studied.

[Mass ciguatera poisoning after eating barracuda in Mexico: prognostic and therapeutic implications].

Thirty patients were admitted to the Anti-Poison Center of Marseille, France, on the fifth day of ciguatera fish poisoning due to ingestion of the same barracuda in Mexico. The purpose of this prospective study conducted during management of this group was to identify prognostic factors and evaluate the efficacy of treatment using mannitol. Upon admission severity was individually scored based on clinical findings.