The Effect of the Introduction of Safety Packaging for Carbamazepine on Toxicity in Overdose in Adults

Safety packing has been shown to be effective in preventing childhood poisoning in Australia however similar data for adults is lacking. This article assess whether there has been a change in the amount of cabamazepine taken in per patient overdose & assess the severity of poisoning coinciding with such a change. The article reports that repackaging resulted in less carbamazepine reported to have been ingested in a patient overdose. The study concludes that repackaging has reduced the severity of deliberate self-poisoning but adds that further study is required. (16 refs.) (AK)