Antidepressant medications have been associated with poisoning deaths due to the increased risk of suicide in depression & the toxicological profile of older tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). The aim of this study was to compare the rates of death per volume of drug dispensed for antidepressants in New Zealand in the year 2001. The authors found that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have lower rates of death per volume of drug dispensed than TCAs, & that there is also variation in these rates within these classes of drugs. (23 refs)