THE USE OF ANTI-DEPRESSANTS AND BENZODIAZEPINES IN THE PERPETRATORS AND VICTIMS OF ACCIDENTS

The objective of this study was to determine whether there is a greate r incidence of psychotropic drugs in the blood of those 'responsible' for an accident compared with those not 'responsible' for an accident. Blood samples were taken from people involved in accidents presenting at the accident and emergency departments of two teaching hospitals o ver a five-month period and analysed for the presence of alcohol, tric yclic anti-depressants (TCAs) and benzodiazepines (BZs). Details of th e accident were used to produce a test group (accidents where a drug m ay have contributed) and a control group (accidents where the presence of a drug could not have been a factor). In total, 229 samples were c ollected. The only criterion for inclusion in the study was that the a ccident was of sufficient severity to merit the routine taking of a bl ood sample, in which case an additional amount was taken for the purpo ses of this investigation. In all, 63 samples (27.5%) were positive fo r at least one of alcohol, TCA or BZ. Of the accidents represented by these samples, 48 could have been caused by the presence of the drug ( responsible group) and 15 could not (not responsible group). There was a significantly greater representation of TCAs and BZs in the blood t aken from the responsible group compared with the not responsible grou p (P < 0.0045).