Deaths involving serotonergic drugs.

Serotonin-active drugs are detected relatively frequently in Victorian deaths. During 2002-2008, there were 1123 fatalities where one or more of the serotonin-active drugs tramadol, venlafaxine, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, paroxetine and MDMA, were detected. These deaths were reviewed using pathology, toxicology and police reports, to determine the contribution of these drugs to the cause of death, particularly if serotonin toxicity was the mechanism of death. There were 28 cases of most interest to this research because of the presence of the target drugs and the circumstances suggesting the likelihood of serotonin toxicity involvement in death. There were 5 cases of reported serotonin toxicity and 23 other deaths suspected to have involved this form of toxicity. Tramadol featured most commonly out of the seven target drugs and was frequently detected in combination with serotonergic antidepressants. MDMA was also detected relatively commonly and was associated with moclobemide in 4 cases of confirmed serotonin toxicity. There were an additional 1095 cases where natural disease, external injury or the misuse of other drugs caused death, of which 2 reported the incidental contribution of serotonin toxicity.