Drug overdosage: a study at the accident and emergency department of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

Reports from various centres have shown that drug overdose is an increasing medical problem (Ghodse, 1977, Holding et al 1977). The number of patients presenting at the Casualty Department of the Royal Victoria Hospital with drug overdose has been recorded over the past four years for the information of the Northern Ireland Liaison Committee on the Misuse of Drugs. The present paper records this information and compares the experience of the hospital with published records from London and Edinburgh.