Fatal Poisoning by Cyclic Antidepressants

Abstract

In a seven-year period (1979-1985), 151 fatal cases of poisoning by cyclic antidepressants were registered at the Institute of Forensic Chemistry in Copenhagen. Amitriptyline was by far the most frequently occurring compound. An increase in the number of fatal poisonings by cyclic antidepressants was seen over the seven years, also compared to the total number of fatal poisonings registered at the Institute in the same period. The increase was seen mostly in men, the number of women remaining fairly constant over the period. Altogether there were 91 women and 60 men. Most cases were found in the 30-39 age group closely followed by the 40-49 age group, both groups including twice as many women as men. Men dominated only in the 20-29 age group. One hundred and twenty-one of the cases were found to be suicides, while thirteen of the cases were more dubious and were registered as "accident/suicide?" Seventeen of the cases were apparent accidents; of these, thirteen (76%) had a mention of alcohol abuse in their case histories.