Co-Proxamol and Suicide: a Study of National Mortality Statistics and Local Non-Fatal Self Poisonings

The purpose of this paper was to examine the incidence of suicides due to co-proxamol compared with tricyclic antidepressants & paracetamol, & to compare fatality rates for self poisonings with these drugs. A higher portion of suicides in the 10-24 year age group were due to co-proxamol than in other age groups. The odds of dying after overdose with co-proxamol were 2.3 times that for tricyclic antidepressants & 28.1 times that for paracetamol. The authors suggest that restricting availability of co-proxamol could have an important role in suicide prevention. (17 refs)