Hypnotics and Sedatives

In recent years, most large hospitals have observed a marked increase in the admission of patients suffering from drug overdose. Overdose of narcotic drugs, such as the opiates, represent less of a problem on a day-to-day basis than do overdoses of prescribed drugs, such as sedatives and hypnotics. Clinical signs and symptoms for a narcotic drug overdose are very distinct, and in the majority of cases can be easily recognized by the attending physicians without the help of a toxicology laboratory. Loomis (1 ) reported that the majority of fatal poisonings owed to one, or a combination, of four agents: barbiturates, carbon monoxide, ethyl alcohol, and salicylates. Berry (2 ) estimated that 5-5′-disubstituted barbiturates were the second commonest cause of fatal poisoning in England, and that the frequency of their use was increasing. Other nonbarbiturate hypnotics involved in coma-producing incidents include glutethimide (Doriden�), methyprylon (Noludar�), and meprobamate (3 , 4 ). In the last five years, diazepam (Valium�) has become one of the leading misused drugs (5 ).