English 
Francais 
عربي 
Suicide: the effect of the size of the box of pills
Fewer suicides with smaller boxes of painkillers! In the United Kingdom, the rate of suicide by overdose of paracetamol has fallen significantly since 1998, the year in which a law was introduced which limits the size of the packaging.
According to a study conducted by Dr Sue Simkin and her Oxford team, this rate was even cut by four in the three years following the introduction of the law. The authors are in no doubt about it: “small boxes really help to prevent suicides”.
Based on a study conducted between 1993 and 2003 in different emergency services in the country, they observed that the number of medical products used in suicide attempts had considerably fallen. Liver transplants following paracetamol poisoning dropped by 30%!
“It is true that the fact of selling smaller boxes does not prevent people from buying several boxes”, explains Simkin. “But most of those contemplating suicide do so impulsively. If they have a small box at home, they will take fewer pills than if they had a bigger one”. Source: British Medical Journal, 28 October 2004
Print this article
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Send to a friend
Convert to pdf
Copyright Authorization
1117 article(s)
5 feature(s)
