Citation

Risser D, Bönsch A, Schneider B, Vycudilik W, Bauer G. Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 1994; 106(21): 677-680.

Vernacular Title

Drogentodesfalle aus gerichtsmedizinischer Sicht. 10 Jahre Erfahrungen aus dem

Affiliation

Institut für Gerichtliche Medizin, Universität Wien.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7810154

Abstract

The problem of illicit drug abuse has of course not spared Austria. In fact, considering only the increase in the official figures on drug-related deaths over the past few years, this problem has dramatically worsened in Austria. Drug-related deaths represent the most serious consequence of substance abuse, but according to the Pompidou Group classification such deaths are only one of eight indicators in assessing the extent of drug abuse in a community. We analyzed reports on all postmortems classified as drug-related deaths according to the official definition of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs undertaken at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Vienna between 1984 and 1993. The annual number of drug-related deaths increased nearly ten-fold during the study period. In about a third of the cases accidental single substance overdosage (of mainly a morphine-containing drug) was the cause of death. In the majority of the corpses more than one drug, including alcohol, was detected. During the past 10 years there was an evident trend towards a multisubstance abuse pattern. Since the plateau reached in 1988, the incidence of HIV-1 infection among decreased drug injectors has decreased.

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