Drug overdoses--a three year study at Altnagelvin Hospital, Londonderry.

In recent years the incidence of drug overdosage has shown a dramatic increase. At Altnagelvin Hospital adult overdoses account for approximately 1wo of the attendances at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department and almost 14%o of the acute medical admissions. This hospital is particularly suitable for studying overdosage as it is the only centre treating this problem in the Londonderry, Limavady and Strabane district, and follows a policy of admitting all overdoses presenting, regardless of their physical or mental condition. The population of the district is approximately 160,000 of which almost 95,000 live in the city area.