Carisoprodol abuse: a report from India

Sikdar, Sudip; Basu, Debasish; Malhotra, Anil K.; Varma, Vandana; Mattoo, Surendra Kumar

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1993.tb03462.x

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Case reports on carisoprodol abuse are numerous [7][8][9][10], and there are also several reports on carisoprodol intoxication [11][12][13][14], but the extent and possible seriousness of this problem is not known in detail. Meprobamate probably has a barbiturate-like mode of action [15], whereas carisoprodol's mode of action is not known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carisoprodol intoxications: a retrospective study of forensic autopsy material from 1992–2003

et al. 2006

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Carisoprodol is commonly prescribed as a centrally acting muscle relaxant, but it is also subject to abuse. The literature describing fatal intoxications with the drug is limited to a relatively small number of cases, and there are inconsistencies with regard to which concentration levels that are toxic. We therefore investigated all forensic autopsies at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health during the period 1992-2003 where carisoprodol was detected. The median concentrations of carisoprodol in intoxication with carisoprodol only or with only minor other analytical findings was 36 mg/l (range 8-65 mg/l; n=5). In the rest of the intoxications, the relevance of carisoprodol relative to the other drugs detected was variable (n=93). When the number of intoxications with carisoprodol each year were divided by the number of defined daily doses (DDD) sold, a fatal toxicity index between 5.6 and 6.9 deaths/1 million DDD was obtained. The total number of cases where carisoprodol was detected increased during the period studied, which correlated to sales figures for the drug. We conclude that carisoprodol can be fatal in concentrations below those indicated in some of the previously published literature. There were, however, only a small number of cases where the cause of death can be attributed to use of carisoprodol alone.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carisoprodol intoxications: a retrospective study of forensic autopsy material from 1992–2003

et al. 2006

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“…Carisoprodol is a centrally acting muscle relaxant used for acute back pain [1] that has been on the market for almost 50 years [2]. Numerous publications report abuse [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] and deaths attributed to the drug [13][14][15] and we have previously published studies showing that carisoprodol is a frequently detected drug in cases of driving under the influence (DUI) [16][17][18], in forensic autopsies [19] and in contacts to the National Poisons Information Centre (NPIC) in Norway [20].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Scheduling and Withdrawal of Carisoprodol on Prevalence of Intoxications with the Drug

Høiseth

Karinen

Sørlid

et al. 2009

Basic Clin Pharma Tox

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The centrally acting muscle relaxant carisoprodol has previously been shown to cause psychomotor impairment and to have a narrow therapeutic range. In Norway, carisoprodol was therefore reclassified to the highest scheduling level During the same period, the sales figures for carisoprodol decreased dramatically, and we observed a relation between the numbers of DUI cases, forensic autopsies and contacts to the NPIC concerning carisoprodol and the sales figures for the drug. This study showed that the rescheduling and withdrawal of carisoprodol from the Norwegian market had a positive effect on the prevalence of carisoprodol in impaired driving, deaths and contacts regarding intoxications. This, together with previous publications, indicates that the population reflected in our data uses regularly prescribed carisoprodol and, to a lesser degree, drug from an illegal street market.

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“…The clinical implication of this is important, especially in relation to the situation in India. Many times, the substi tution drug of therapy (morphine, meperidine, buprenorphine) itself is abused later by the patients, thus producing what has been termed as 'iatrogenic drug dependence', and recently this phenomenon has been increasingly ob served in India [3][4][5][6][7], In India, since methadone is not available, the practice of prescribing other opioids -often indiscriminately -has flourished. These include pentazo cine, meperidine, buprénorphine, codeine and dextropro poxyphène.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Apart from heroin, which is the commonest, many other opioids are also abused (e.g., buprénorphine, pentazocine, codeine, dextropropoxyphène, etc.). Unfortunately, some of these are also indiscriminately prescribed by physicians to combat heroin withdrawal features, thus often fostering iatrogenic substance abuse and dependence by a 'pre scription carry-over' phenomenon [6,7], Hence the search for non-opioid drugs with adequate anti-withdraw al effect and without any abuse liability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clonidine versus Withdrawal Using an Opioid in In-Patient Opioid Detoxification

et al. 1997

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Clonidine, an adrenergic alpha-2-agonist drug, was compared to withdrawal using an opioid for efficacy of detoxification in an in-patient sample of opioid-dependent subjects. No significant difference in the withdrawal pattern was observed. Clonidine tended to ameliorate general autonomic disturbances more effectively, and subjective rating of discomfort less effectively than opioid substitution. The overall results suggest that clonidine may be used effectively as a detoxification agent in lieu of opioid substitution which carries its own risk of fostering iatrogenic opioid abuse and dependence.

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Carisoprodol abuse: a report from India

Cited by 23 publications

References 4 publications

Carisoprodol intoxications: a retrospective study of forensic autopsy material from 1992–2003

Carisoprodol intoxications: a retrospective study of forensic autopsy material from 1992–2003

The Effect of Scheduling and Withdrawal of Carisoprodol on Prevalence of Intoxications with the Drug

Clonidine versus Withdrawal Using an Opioid in In-Patient Opioid Detoxification

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