§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths in each of the past five years are attributable to abuse of temazepam in each health board area in Scotland. [1506]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythReliable information on the numbers of such deaths is not available for the years prior to 1994. The figures for 1994 are given in the table:
Deaths in Scotland from drug abuse' where temazepam was mentioned, by health board area, 1994. 1994 Argyll and Clyde 5 Ayrshire and Arran 3 Borders 0 Dumfries and Galloway 2 Fife 0 Forth Valley 0 Grampian 0 Greater Glasgow 36 Highland 0 Lanarkshire 2 Lothian 2 Orkney 0 Shetland 0 Tayside 2 Western Isles 0 Scotland 52 1Deaths coded to WHO International Classification of Diseases (9th Revision) codes 304 and 305. Improvements in the collection of information on such deaths were introduced in 1994. A full description of these changes is given in the report, "Collection of information on drug related deaths by the General Register Office for Scotland", a copy of which is in the Library.