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Combined drug intoxication (CDI), or multiple drug intake (MDI), is a cause of death by drug overdose from poly drug use, often implicated in polysubstance dependence.
Deaths by combined drug intoxication are relatively rare (one in several million).[1][medical citation needed] In 2004, there were 3,800 deaths in the US resulting from a fatal medication error involving alcohol, while in 1983 there were fewer than 100 such deaths.[2] It is more of a risk for older patients.[3][medical citation needed]
People who engage in polypharmacy are at an elevated risk of death from CDI. Other dangers of combining drugs such as "brain damage, heart problems, seizures, stomach bleeding, liver damage/ liver failure, heatstroke, coma, suppressed breathing, and respiratory failure", along with many other complications. Disorders like depression and anxiety can also stem from polydrug use.[4] Elderly people are at the highest risk of CDI, because of having many age-related and health problems requiring many medications combined with age-impaired judgment, leading to confusion in taking medications.[5][3] Elderly patients are often prescribed more than one drug within the same drug class, and doctors may treat the side effects of prescribed drugs with even more drugs, which can overwhelm the patient.[6]
In general, the simultaneous use of multiple drugs should be carefully monitored by a qualified individual such as board certified and licensed medical doctor, either an MDorDO. Close association between prescribing physicians and pharmacies, along with the computerizationofprescriptions and patients' medical histories, aim to avoid the occurrence of dangerous drug interactions. Lists of contraindications for a drug are usually provided with it, either in monographs, package inserts (accompanying prescribed medications), or in warning labels (for OTC drugs). CDI/MDI might also be avoided by physicians requiring their patients to return any unused prescriptions. Patients should ask their doctors and pharmacists if there are any interactions between the drugs they are taking.
Alcohol can exacerbate the symptoms and may directly contribute to increased severity of symptoms. The reasons for toxicity vary depending on the mixture of drugs. Usually, most victims die after using two or more drugs in combination that suppress breathing, and the low blood oxygen level causes brain death.[7]
Deaths from medication mistakes at home, such as actor Heath Ledger's accidental overdose, rose dramatically during the past two decades, an analysis of U.S. death certificates finds. ... Prescription drug abuse plays a role in the rise in fatalities, but it's unclear how much, researchers said. ... The authors blame soaring home use of prescription painkillers and other potent drugs, which 25 years ago were given mainly inside hospitals. ... 'The amount of medical supervision is going down and the amount of responsibility put on the patient's shoulders is going up,' said lead author David P. Phillips of the University of California, San Diego. ... The findings, based on nearly 50 million U.S. death certificates, are published in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine. Of those, more than 224,000 involved fatal medication errors, including overdoses and mixing prescription drugs with alcohol or street drugs. ... Deaths from medication mistakes at home increased from 1,132 deaths in 1983 to 12,426 in 2004. Adjusted for population growth, that amounts to an increase of more than 700 percent during that time.
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Combined substance use and adulteration
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| Combined substance use |
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| Adulteration |
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| Harm reduction |
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