Background: The United Kingdom (UK) is currently experiencing a public health crisis of drug-related deaths. The government has rejected recommendations to open overdose prevention services, under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. To report on the operation and use of an unsanctioned overdose prevention service which operated in Glasgow city centre from September 2020 to May 2021.
Methods: Description of the service, with analysis of data collected on its use.
Results: The service operated for nine months without permission or funding from official sources. We report on the 894 injections supervised and recorded, and nine successful interventions with overdose events (seven opioid/two cocaine). Powder cocaine injection predominated either alone (60.6%) or with heroin (22.1%). Injection was mostly in the groin (68.0%) or arm (16.8%). More injections were recorded by males (70.1%). Around 65% of injection events featured an individual who was on a buprenorphine/methadone prescription.
Conclusion: It is feasible for an overdose prevention service to operate successfully in the UK without being shut down by the police or with negative consequences for the community. Future sites in the UK must tailor to the substances used by their potential clients, international trends (e.g. for fentanyl use) did not apply here. There is an urgent need and demand for these services in the UK to reduce harm, prevent and intervene during overdose, and provide vital psychosocial support for health and wellbeing in a highly marginalised population.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103670 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Tramadol as a fentanyl adulterant: Prevalence and management in a ToxIC Fentalog study prospective cohort.
Am J Emerg Med
December 2024
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Center for Research on Emerging Substances, Poisoning, Overdose, and New Discoveries (RESPOND), NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, New York, NY, USA.
Background: Tramadol is an adulterant of illicit opioids. As it is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor as well as a μ-opioid agonist, tramadol adulteration may worsen overdose signs and symptoms or affect the amount of naloxone patients receive.
Methods: This is a multicenter, prospective cohort of adult patients with suspected opioid overdoses who presented to one of eight United States emergency departments and were included in the Toxicology Investigators Consortium's Fentalog Study.
Mediators of epilepsy risk after traumatic brain injury: A 20-year U.S. veteran cohort study.
Epilepsia
December 2024
VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant risk factor for epilepsy, but little work has explored whether risk of epilepsy after TBI may operate through intermediary mechanisms. The objective of this study was to statistically screen for potentially mediating effects among 64 comorbidities for epilepsy risk following TBI among Post-9/11 U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComparison of Three-Bag Method Acetylcysteine Versus Two-Bag Method Acetylcysteine for the Treatment of Acetaminophen Toxicity: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Diseases
December 2024
College of Pharmacy, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh 14611, Saudi Arabia.
Background: Acetaminophen is generally considered safe when used according to the recommended guidelines. Consumption in excessive doses can lead to severe liver damage and, in critical cases, may even result in death. To reduce the effects of acetaminophen overdose, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been established as the preferred intervention to prevent liver damage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeterminants of Inappropriate Dosing of Direct Oral Anticoagulants in Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation in a Low-Income Country.
Cureus
November 2024
Cardiology, Asociacion Instituto Dominicano de Cardiologia, Santo Domingo, DOM.
Introduction The appropriate use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) is crucial in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) to prevent thromboembolic complications. The use of inappropriate doses is common, but information on its prevalence and determining factors in low-income countries is insufficient. Objective The objective of this study is to quantify the prevalence and identify demographic, clinical, and treatment-related factors associated with inappropriate dosing of DOACs in patients with NVAF in a low-income country.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-fatal drug overdose surveillance using hospital discharge data: a comparison between the Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) system and the Healthcare Cost and Utilisation Project, 18 states, 2018-2020.
Inj Prev
December 2024
Division of Overdose Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) system captures non-fatal overdose data from health departments' emergency department (ED) and inpatient hospitalisation discharge data; however, these data have not been compared with other established state-level surveillance systems, which may lag by several years depending on the state. This analysis compared non-fatal overdose rates from DOSE discharge data with rates from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) in order to compare DOSE data against an established dataset.
Methods: DOSE discharge data case definitions (ie, International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, Clinical Modification codes) for non-fatal unintentional/undetermined intent all drug, all opioid-involved, heroin-involved and stimulant-involved overdoses were applied to HCUP's 2018-2020 State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) and State Inpatient Databases (SID).
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!