ArticleBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2022
Fatalities associated with gabapentinoids in England (2004-2020).
Article in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Deaths related to the use of diarylethylamines, with a focus on the United Kingdom: A systematic review and case series report.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic review: The relationship between gabapentinoids, etizolam, and drug related deaths in Scotland.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Gabapentinoids and unexplained death in general practice: Case series and feasibility study arising from a critical incident.The European journal of general practice · 2026Article
- The efficacy, safety, and satisfaction of telehealth-delivered hypnotic cognitive therapy for chronic pain in spinal cord injury: A pilot study with historical controls.The journal of spinal cord medicine · 2025Article
- Patterns of Analgesic Prescribing and High-Risk Prescribing in Primary Care in Ireland 2014-2022-A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- Analysis of User-Generated Posts on Social Media of Adjuvant Analgesics: A Machine Learning Study.International journal of medical sciences · 2025Article
- A Hidden Pandemic? Abuse of Gabapentinoids: A Brief Review of Recent Studies.Current drug research reviews · 2025Review
- Analyzing Pain Patterns in Stroke Survivors in Outpatient Clinics: A Retrospective, Cross-Sectional, Observational Study.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Delirium following pregabalin discontinuation in an individual with no psychiatric or substance use history.BMJ case reports · 2023Article
- Article
- Trends in deaths following drug use in England before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdowns.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Fatalities associated with gabapentinoids in England (2004-2020).British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The gabapentinoids were reclassified as Schedule II medications and Class C drugs in the UK in 2019 due to their potential misuse. In this study we examined deaths following gabapentinoid use in England reported to the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths. A total of 3051 deaths were reported (gabapentin: 913 cases; pregabalin: 2322 cases [both detected in 184 cases]). Prescribed and illicitly obtained gabapentinoids accounted for similar proportions of deaths (gabapentin illicit 38.0%, prescribed 37.1%; pregabalin illicit 41.0%, prescribed 34.6%). Opioids were co-detected in most cases (92.0%), and co-prescribed in a quarter (25.3%). Postmortem blood gabapentinoid concentrations were commonly (sub)therapeutic (65.0% of gabapentin cases; 50.8% of pregabalin cases). In only two cases was gabapentinoid toxicity alone attributed in causing death. Gabapentinoids alone rarely cause death. Clinically relevant doses can, however, prove fatal, possibly by reducing tolerance to opioids. Doctors and patients should be aware of this interaction. Gabapentinoid-opioid co-prescribing needs urgent revision.
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