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This is an “umbrella” project as this diagnosis can be accidental or intentional. Please do not add profiles to this project UNLESS the type of drug overdose is UNKNOWN.
Please add the profile to the specific drug project listed below. If there is no project that fits, please leave a message in the following discussion: Cause of Death Projects needed???.
If the Drug Overdose resulted from a Medical Error, please see the Medical Error project.
See also "Related projects" as the person may belong in more than one project (i.e.. suicide, accidental death, but please go with the one on the death certificate. You could put "suicide by overdose of..." or "accidental overdose of ..." in Geni's profile "cause of death" line.)
The term drug overdose (or simply overdose or OD) describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended[1] or generally practiced.[2] An overdose may result in a toxic state or death.
The word "overdose" implies that there is a common safe dosage and usage for the drug; therefore, the term is commonly only applied to drugs, not poisons, though even poisons are harmless at a low enough dosage. Drug overdoses are sometimes caused intentionally to commit suicide, parasuicide or as self-harm, but many drug overdoses are accidental, the result of intentional or unintentional misuse of medication. Intentional misuse leading to overdose can include using prescribed or unprescribed drugs in excessive quantities in an attempt to produce euphoria.
Usage of illicit drugs of unexpected purity, in large quantities, or after a period of drug abstinence can also induce overdose. Cocaine users who inject intravenously can easily overdose accidentally, as the margin between a pleasurable drug sensation and an overdose is small.[3] Unintentional misuse can include errors in dosage caused by failure to read or understand product labels. Accidental overdoses may also be the result of over-prescription, failure to recognize a drug's active ingredient, or unwitting ingestion by children. A common unintentional overdose in young children involves multi-vitamins containing iron. Iron is a component of the hemoglobin molecule in blood, used to transport oxygen to living cells. When taken in small amounts, iron allows the body to replenish hemoglobin, but in large amounts it causes severe pH imbalances in the body. If this overdose is not treated with chelation therapy, it can lead to death or permanent coma. The term 'overdose' is often misused as a descriptor for adverse drug reactions or negative drug interactions due to mixing multiple drugs simultaneously.
The drugs or toxins that are most frequently involved in overdose and death (grouped by ICD-10):
- Acute alcohol intoxication (F10) (See: Alcoholism)
- Ethyl alcohol
- Methanol poisoning
- Ethylene glycol poisoning
- Opioid overdose (F11) (See: Death from Opioid Overdose)
- Among sedative-hypnotics (F13) (See: Sedative-Hypnotic Overdose)
- Barbiturate overdose (T42.3) (Wikipedia - Barbiturate)
- Benzodiazepine overdose (T42.4)
- Uncategorized sedative-hypnotics (T42.6)
- Ethchlorvynol (Placidyl)
- GHB
- Glutethimide (Doriden)
- Methaqualone
- Ketamine (T41.2)
- Among Stimulants (F14-F15) (See: Stimulant Overdose)
- Cocaine overdose (T40.5) (Wikipedia - Cocaine intoxication)
- Amphetamine overdose (T43.6) (Wikipedia - Amphetamine)
- Methamphetamine (T43.6)
- Among Tobacco (F17)
- Nicotine (T65.2)
- Among Poly drug use (F19) (Wikipedia - Poly drug use)
- Drug "cocktails" (Speedballs) (See: Accidental combined Drug Intoxication)
- Medications
- Aspirin poisoning (T39.0)
- Acetaminophen poisoning (Alone or mixed with Oxycodone)
- Paracetamol toxicity (T39.1)
- Tricyclic antidepressant overdose (T43.0)
- Vitamin poisoning
- Pesticide poisoning (T60)
- Organophosphate poisoning
Notables dying from Drug Overdose & Intoxication:
- See list at this site for more specific info on people & type of “drug(s)” involved
Additional Reading:
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