A regional series described reported medicinal poisonings over thirteen years. Its drug-category frequency is different from a population overdose rate or a comparative lethality estimate.
The recorded cases
The study examined 180 medicinal-poisoning reports from southeastern Morocco between 2004 and 2016. Benzodiazepine derivatives and related drugs were involved in 21.5% of recorded cases.
Adults and women were prominent in the series, and many cases were intentional. Alprazolam appeared among the individually listed medicines.
Reporting determines the sample
The authors identified incomplete case reporting and limited information about some characteristics. Changes in report counts can reflect detection and reporting as well as changes in events.
Low recorded mortality does not establish low intrinsic toxicity of a drug category. Nor does the series identify the cause of every neurologic or respiratory sign when multiple drugs were present. Forensic use should retain the local reporting system, period, drug grouping, co-exposures, and available confirmation rather than generalizing its percentages to all benzodiazepine users.
Source paper
Original analysis of the supplied journal article, identified as PMC6423242.
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