Oxycodone overdoses in the Netherlands soar as prescriptions rise
It is not known whether any deaths resulted from an overdosis of the drug
Dutch News (Netherlands)
Friday, August 24, 2018
Friday, August 24, 2018
The number of people overdosing on the powerful painkiller oxycodone in the Netherlands has gone up six fold in ten years, according to figures by toxicology centre NVIC. In 2008 some 43 people overdosed on the drug, which is twice as powerful as morphine and highly addictive when used longer term. That figure jumped to 280 in 2017 and this year experts at the NVCI say they are expecting many more cases. According to the NVCI the real number of overdoses related to the drug, which has caused a health care crisis in the United States, may be higher. This is because the centre only registers cases if doctors ask for advice when a patient has taken too much of the drug. They are not under an obligation to register an overdose.
