Aim: To identify and characterize oxycodone related deaths in Sweden from 2006 to 2018 and to compare them to other opioid-related deaths.
Methods: To assess the factors contributing to the deaths, we used multinomial logistic regression to compare oxycodone-related deaths extracted from all forensic autopsy examinations and toxicology cases in the age groups 15-34 (reference group), 35-54 and 55-74 with regard to sex, presence of benzodiazepines and alcohol at the time of death, prescription of oxycodone, benzodiazepines and antidepressants, previous substance use-related (SUD) treatment, and manner of death. The oxycodone related deaths were compared with deaths with presence of other opioids.
Result: We identified 575 oxycodone-related deaths, and the rate increased during the study period from 0.10 to 1.12 per 100,000 in parallel with an increase of oxycodone prescriptions from 3.17 to 30.33 per 1000. Oxycodone-related deaths amounted to 10.0% of all opioid-related deaths. The deaths occurred mainly in older patients previously being prescribed oxycodone. Benzodiazepines were present at the time of death in 403 (70%) and alcohol in 259 (45%). Prescriptions of any opioid for pain (61%), oxycodone (50%), benzodiazepines (67%) and antidepressants (55%) were common. Only 15% had received treatment for SUD during the last year.
Conclusion: Oxycodone-related deaths increased in Sweden between 2006 and 2018 in parallel to an increase in oxycodone prescriptions. The increase occurred mainly in older patients being prescribed oxycodone for pain. There might be specific interventions needed to avoid oxycodone-related deaths compared to other opioid-related deaths associated with illicit opioid use.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109402 | DOI Listing |
Public Health
November 2024
Grenoble Alpes University Hospital, Addictovigilance Dept, Grenoble, France.
Objective: To describe analgesic-related deaths in France and report trends over a 10-year period.
Study Design: The DTA ("Décès Toxiques par Antalgiques") register is a French database of analgesic-related deaths among people without a history of drug abuse, reported by forensic toxicology experts.
Methods: We included analgesic-related deaths occurring from January 2013 to December 2022 in France.
Int J Legal Med
November 2022
Forensic Toxicology Unit, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland.
Oxycodone is a strong opioid drug commonly used to treat acute, cancer, and chronic non-malignant pain. In this study, all oxycodone-related medico-legal cases where death had occurred in a hospital or nursing home in Finland were investigated to determine the range of post-mortem (PM) oxycodone blood concentrations in a therapeutic setting. All toxicology cases in which oxycodone was detected in PM femoral blood during the 4-year period of 2016-2019 in Finland were retrieved from the national PM toxicology database.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug Alcohol Depend
May 2022
Camurus AB, Ideon Science Park, SE-22370 Lund, Sweden.
Aim: To identify and characterize oxycodone related deaths in Sweden from 2006 to 2018 and to compare them to other opioid-related deaths.
Methods: To assess the factors contributing to the deaths, we used multinomial logistic regression to compare oxycodone-related deaths extracted from all forensic autopsy examinations and toxicology cases in the age groups 15-34 (reference group), 35-54 and 55-74 with regard to sex, presence of benzodiazepines and alcohol at the time of death, prescription of oxycodone, benzodiazepines and antidepressants, previous substance use-related (SUD) treatment, and manner of death. The oxycodone related deaths were compared with deaths with presence of other opioids.
Metabolites
January 2022
Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, 587 58 Linköping, Sweden.
Postmortem metabolomics has recently been suggested as a potential tool for discovering new biological markers able to assist in death investigations. Interpretation of oxycodone concentrations in postmortem cases is complicated, as oxycodone tolerance leads to overlapping concentrations for oxycodone intoxications versus non-intoxications. The primary aim of this study was to use postmortem metabolomics to identify potential endogenous biomarkers that discriminate between oxycodone-related intoxications and non-intoxications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet
March 2022
Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, 587 58, Linköping, Sweden.
Background And Objectives: Oxycodone is frequently prescribed as well as detected in postmortem cases. Concurrent use of pharmacodynamically or pharmacokinetically interacting drugs can cause adverse effects or even fatal intoxication. The aims of this study were to investigate differences in prescriptions for and toxicological findings of pharmacodynamically and pharmacokinetically interacting drugs in fatal oxycodone-related intoxications and other causes of death.
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