Drug emergency patients are a burden for the medical care system: inadequate care for drug emergency patients.

During the course of the Drug Emergency Study in Bremen it became obvious that there are many problems left unsolved related to the medical care of intoxicated heroine addicts. From January to June 1992 there were 1230 drug emergencies, 409 hospital admissions and 644 emergency transportation. With or without antidote treatment, most patients leave the medical care system as soon as possible because of withdrawal symptoms. The physicians involved answered a short questionnaire about these problems: 80% of the physicians are dissatisfied with the present medical care situation for intoxicated drug addicts and feel that these patients are a burden for the hospitals (81%) and for themselves (73%); 93% of the physicians think that a central drug emergency unit, offering medical and psycho-social care would solve the present problems and would be a possibility for lowering drug emergencies and, as a further result, drug mortality.