Year: 1992 Source: BMJ, v.305, no.6851, (August 22, 1992), p.472 SIEC No: 19920944

In this letter to the editor, Pounder concurs with the Samaritan’s claim that “the U.K. coroners’ system conceals suicides”. He argues that recent figures suggest a deterioration in reliability, with increasing numbers misclassified as undetermined. He uses the figures for death by hanging as evidence. From 1968-87, the average percentage of hanging deaths categorised as undetermined was 6.0%; by 1990, this percentage had risen to 15.2%. (6 refs.)