Drug-related mortality in Canada (1984-1994)

To examine drug-related deaths due to adverse drug reactions between 1984 and 1994.

Voluntary reports of deaths due to adverse events as reported to the Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Program, Drugs Directorate, Health Protection Branch, Health Canada.

Drugs were classified according to the Anatomical, Therapeutic, Chemical (ATC) coding system. Descriptive statistics were utilized.

One thousand four hundred and seventeen drug-related deaths were reported (700 male, 685 female, 32 unknown). The mean+/-SD age of patients was 54.6+/-21.7 years (range 1 month-97 years). In total, 2131 medications were implicated as suspect drugs (1.5+/-1.0, range 1-7). The most commonly reported categories of suspect drugs were the nervous system agents (50.6%), followed by cardiovascular system agents (9.0%), general antiinfectives for systemic use (8.8%) and musculoskeletal system agents (8.3%). One thousand and eighty-six deaths were classified as non-suicides. For non-suicide deaths, the most commonly reported suspect drugs were classified as nervous system agents (37.9%), followed by general antiinfectives for systemic use (12.3%), musculoskeletal system (11.5%) and cardiovascular system agents (10.2%). Three hundred and thirty-one (23.3%) reports were identified as suicides. For suicides, the most commonly reported suspect drugs were the nervous system agents (81.1%), followed by the respiratory system agents (8.5%) and the cardiovascular system agents (6.0%).

Nervous system agents, musculoskeletal medications and general antiinfectives for systemic use figured prominently in deaths reported to HPB between 1984 and 1994.