Highlights:
- Dextromethorphan
(DXM) is approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is a cough
suppressant found in many over-the-counter cough and cold remedies.
Dextromethorphan is generally safe when taken in recommended doses but
in large amounts can cause dangerous side effects.
- According
to SAMHSA's Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) for 2004, an estimated
12,584 emergency department visits (0.7% of all drug related emergency
department visits) involved pharmaceuticals containing dextromethorphan.
- The
rate of emergency department visits resulting from nonmedical use of
dextromethorphan for those aged 12 to 20 was 7.1 visits per 100,000
population compared with 2.6 visits or fewer per 100,000 for other age
groups.
- Emergency
department patients aged 12 to 20 accounted for almost half (48%) of
all the emergency department visits resulting from nonmedical use of
dextromethorphan.
- The
rates of DAWN emergency department visits resulting from any type of
use of dextromethorphan among those aged 12 to 20 was 10.3 per 100,000
population compared with 4.3 visits per 100,000 for the population overall.
- Alcohol
was implicated in about a third (36%) of the DAWN emergency department
visits involving nonmedical use of dextromethorphan for those aged 18
to 20 and in 13% of visits for those aged 12 to 17.
Other
reports on dextromethorphan
Other
specific drugs
Other
topics
Other
OAS publications and services
This Short
Report, The
New DAWN Report: Emergency Department Visits Involving Dextromethorphan,
is based on the Drug Abuse Warning
Network (DAWN), the primary source of national data on drug related
emergency department visits. DAWN is conducted by the Office
of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA).
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