Drug-related death--an update.

Some epidemiological, morphological and toxicological aspects from a continuous prospective study of drug-related fatalities in Hamburg are described. The lethal risk for intravenous drug addicts (IVDA) has increased (1990: n = 136 drug-related fatalities in Hamburg; 1991: n = 184). Infectious diseases are common. From the epidemiological point of view the HIV-1 prevalence is decreasing; hepatitis C turned out to be a serious medical problem for IVDA. The fatal course of the addiction is mostly caused by heroin overdosage (sometimes in combination with ethyl-alcohol, benzodiazepines and barbiturates); about 40% of the fatalities were alcoholized (20% with a blood alcohol concentration of more than 1%).