[Fatalities in drug-dependent patients. A critical analysis]

The disquieting increase in the mortality of drug addicts observed in recent years cannot be ascribed to only one or a few well defined causes, such as the spread of the HI virus or AIDS, changes in drug consumption habits of multiple dependents or ineffective therapeutic measures. Primarily, an interaction of medical, social and psychological causes is emerging. In a well-defined addict population, 35 deaths of intravenous drug users were registered in the period 1987-1990. By comparison, 7 deaths were recorded in the same geographical area between 1983 and 1986. A report of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs shows that in Western Europe, mortality in this high-risk group has doubled annually in the past few years.