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Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Tue 16 Sep 11:28
An interesting article on BBC News -
`More than 13,000 heroin and opioid deaths have been missed off official statistics in England and Wales, raising concerns about the impact on the government`s approach to tackling addiction. Research from King`s College London, shared exclusively with BBC News, found that there were 39,232 opioid-related deaths between 2011 and 2022, more than 50% higher than previously known.
The error has been blamed on the government`s official statistics body not having access to post-mortem reports or toxicology results. Data on specific drug deaths is a major driver of policy and it is understood the government is now working with coroners to improve the reporting of deaths. The number of opioid deaths per million people in England and Wales has almost doubled since 2012, but this new study means the scale of the problem is likely to be even greater.
The flaw in the ONS system is not present in Scotland, where there are no coroners and where National Records Scotland (NRS) is responsible for collating official statistics. Unlike the ONS, the NRS does receive more detailed pathology reports, but differences in how deaths are reported across the UK make it difficult to compare.`
After adjusting for this error the rate of drug deaths in Scotland will still be approx 1.5 times the rate for E&W rather than 2.3 times the rate as previously reported. Can we expect to see this reported on the front of the Mail/Express/Telegraph etc?
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Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Tue 16 Sep 12:40
All sorts of deaths are recorded differently depending on the country. They key thing in Scotland is to ensure deaths are recorded accurately and seek to reduce instances of deaths that could have been avoided.
It sounds like England needs to review how it captures and analyses data.
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Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Tue 16 Sep 13:18
You would have thought the media would check statistics were compiled on a consistent basis before quoting them for comparison purposes. Who can you believe if you can`t trust non-political statistical bodies?
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Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Tue 16 Sep 13:44
I believe that a "drug death" in Scotland is recorded whenever drugs are found in the blood stream of the victim.
Someone who is killed in a car crash and has any drugs in their system is recorded as a "drug death"
The rules in England are different, hence the big difference.
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Topic Originator: NMCmassive
Date: Tue 16 Sep 13:53
Quote:
LochgellyAlbert, Tue 16 Sep 13:44
I believe that a "drug death" in Scotland is recorded whenever drugs are found in the blood stream of the victim.
Someone who is killed in a car crash and has any drugs in their system is recorded as a "drug death"
The rules in England are different, hence the big difference.
See that raises other questions and it starts becoming really tedious. You really need to know on a case by case basis.
So if you’re killed as a passenger in a car and you’re found to have heroin in your system, would that be a drug death?
COYP
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Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Tue 16 Sep 14:12
If the figures compiled for the nations within the UK are not comparable how can we be sure those compiled for other countries throughout the world are? Scotland might have a much stricter definition of `drug death` than anywhere else.
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Topic Originator: Wotsit
Date: Tue 16 Sep 14:26
There`s often more than one reason given, or, more accurately, more than one [I]contributing factor listed, for a death.
A passenger in a car who is in an accident with heroin in their system wouldn`t be a drug death unless the drug was considered a contributing factor. Someone on coke distracting the driver and causing them to crash for instance.
If drugs are found in the blood of a driver who dies in a car accident then it would most likely be listed as a contributing factor.
The cause of death, as it appears on the death certificate, would usually be respiratory failure in the case of a heroin overdose, and whatever specific fatal injuries occurred in the case of a car accident.
The enemy travels by private jet, not by dinghy.
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Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Tue 16 Sep 16:20
So surely only cases should be classed as "drug death " when it`s an obvious overdose?
Or does that disrupt the narrative?
Post Edited (Tue 16 Sep 16:21)
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Topic Originator: NMCmassive
Date: Tue 16 Sep 16:34
Quote:
LochgellyAlbert, Tue 16 Sep 16:20
So surely only cases should be classed as "drug death " when it`s an obvious overdose?
Or does that disrupt the narrative?
That was my understanding of it but I may be wrong 🤷🏻♂️
COYP
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Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Tue 16 Sep 16:44
There was the same issue during COVID. You had people who had stage 4 cancer dying while having COVID and it being recorded as a death from COVID when it was probably the straw that broke the camels back!
Remember the phrase - Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Look at minimum unit pricing for example. Stats show a reduction in alcohol abuse, which would suggest success. But it doesn`t consider what the trend was before and if higher alcohol prices were why alcohol abuse reduced. There`s evidence to suggest that problem drinkers simply moved to cheap drugs instead of alcohol.
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