Methadon bei au�ergew�hnlichen Todesf�llen, Z�rich 1989-1997

Trends in methadone-related deaths in Zurich

“…A similar or even higher percentage of combined toxicity was seen in other studies [7,8,[16][17][18]20 and other opioids decreased -a finding consistent only in the study by Graß [7]. In contrast most of the previous studies, revealed benzodiazepines as the most frequent additional substances [8,16,20,22,23]. According to the development in Zurich's and Switzerland's drug scene in recent years [13] we detected cocaine in second place which seemed to be of no particular relevance in other studies.…”

“…In our study, 76% of the deceased died as a result of combined drug intoxication. A similar or even higher percentage of combined toxicity was seen in other studies [7,8,[16][17][18]20 and other opioids decreased -a finding consistent only in the study by Graß [7]. In contrast most of the previous studies, revealed benzodiazepines as the most frequent additional substances [8,16,20,22,23].…”

“…Compared to the results of other authors this is more than a tripling [8,15,17,18]. The existence of such high MBL implies a methadone-induced tolerance and enough survival-time for resorption in case of oral application or an intravenous application of a large dosage of methadone [14].…”

“…Among the long-term studies [6,7,8,10] with an observation period of 10 years or more with 146 deceased we investigated a relatively large number of cases. However, some shorter studies of five years in length or less presented data with an even larger number of victims [5,18].…”

“…The study by Hauri et al [8] (Tab. 1) reviewed 114 methadone-associated deaths between 1989 and 1997.…”