HC Deb 28 March 2000 vol 347 cc114-5W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the total number of deaths caused by(a) paracetamol/co-proxamol, (b) dothiepin, (c) aspirin, (d) ibuprofen and (e) benylin in each of the last five years. [115945]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 28 March 2000: The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question asking for the latest assessment of the total number of annual deaths caused by (a) paracetamol/co-proxamol (b) dothiepin (c) aspirin (d) ibuprofen (e) benylin. I am replying in Dr Holt's absence. The latest figures of drug related deaths caused by the substances listed above are provided for England and Wales in 1997. The information is supplied using the ONS database of deaths where the underlying cause of death was drug-related as described in Health Statistics Quarterly, Number 5. The table shows the number of deaths where the substances were mentioned on the death certificate. No deaths were recorded as being attributed to benylin.

Drug related deaths1 for specific substances in England and Wales, 1997
Number
Paracetamol/Co-proxamol2 562
Dothiepin 235
Aspirin 51
Ibuprofen 2
1 Deaths with underlying codes 292, 304, 305.2-305.9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E962.0 and E980.0-E980.5, using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, where the named substance was mentioned on the death certificate.
2 Includes deaths where paracetamol or any compounds containing paracetamol, such as co-proxamol are mentioned in the death certificate.