@article{ref1,
title="The cost of antidepressant overdose",
journal="General hospital psychiatry",
year="1995",
author="D'Mello, D. A. and Finkbeiner, D. S. and Kocher, K. N.",
volume="17",
number="6",
pages="454-455",
abstract="Ninety percent of suicide attempts referred to a general hospital are by self-poisoning. Among women, drug overdose is the commonest means of suicide. In a retrospective naturalistic review of 200 patients who were treated in the Critical Care Unit of a general hospital following medication overdose, 12% were antidepressant overdoses. The mean duration of hospital stay for overdose with tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) was more than double that for overdose with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) (7 vs 3 days; z = 2.20, p < 0.05). The dollar cost of hospital treatment for patients who overdosed on TCAs was four times greater than that for patients who overdosed on SSRIs ($22,923 vs $5,379; z = 2.30, p < 0.05). The tricyclic compounds clearly have a price advantage over more recently introduced antidepressant agents fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, venlafaxine, and bupropion. The apparent cost advantage of prescribing a less expensive drug may be nullified by the cost associated with adverse consequences.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0163-8343",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}