As identified on the National Coroners Information System Reported between: 1 July November 2009

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1 Deaths from toxicity to Pentobarbitone reported to an Australian coroner As identified on the National Coroners Information System Reported between: 1 July November December 2009

2 DISCLAIMER This data set is provided on an as is basis. It does not purport to be representative of all relevant deaths within the time period specified, due to occasional processing and coding errors, missing data, and cases not being closed. The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine accepts no liability for any loss or damage that may arise from any use of or reliance on the data. Any data provided is for the stated use of the requesting client only. The data report in its entirety should not be published, placed in the public domain, or distributed to any external parties without first obtaining permission from the NCIS. Prior to interpretation as to the influence of the drug pentobarbitone as a suicide method, information about other methods for self harm and other barbiturate toxicity deaths would be required. The reporting of particular methods of suicide in the media is a sensitive topic, and accordingly it is recommended media guidelines outlined by MindFrame at be considered.

3 CASE IDENTIFICATION A search of the National Coroners Information System (NCIS) was performed as follows: All fatalities reported to a coroner since 1 July 2000 in all jurisdictions of Australia (1 January 2001 for Queensland) where: - Medical Cause of Death contained the term pentobarbitone, pentobarbital or nembutal OR - Police report, autopsy report, toxicology report or coronial finding contained the terms pentobarbitone, pentobarbital or nembutal OR - Object coding = Pharmaceutical Substances for Human Use, Multiple Substances, Other Specified Substances pentobarbitone, pentobarbital or nembutal OR - Object coding = Pharmaceutical Substances for Human Use, Sedative/Hypnotic/Antipsychotic, Barbiturate OR - Drugs Module (covers Victorian deaths reported since 2003 only) for Barbiturates, Pentobarbitone where detected = yes The search included both open and closed cases on the NCIS. A manual review of all results obtained from the above searches was conducted to ensure relevance. Any duplicate or non-relevant records were removed from the data set. LIMITATIONS Not all case reports are attached to every record on the NCIS, and as such, identification of pentobarbitone as a drug involved in a death may not have been possible if the medical cause of death did not mention the type of drug specifically e.g. Cause of Death was Drug Toxicity or Barbiturate Poisoning. Accordingly, it cannot be assumed that every death involving toxicity to pentobarbitone has been included in this data set. A background of significant physical illness was only included where confirmed in a coronial finding, in the medical cause of death or autopsy results. As some cases are yet to have their investigation into the death completed, or did not have finding documents available, the number of cases where a physical illness was able to be confirmed may be an under-representation of the prevalence of such conditions across the deceased in this data set.

4 RESULTS There were 51 deaths identified on the NCIS as resulting from toxicity to pentobarbitone reported to an Australian coroner since 1 July Table 1. Number of deaths due to pentobarbitone toxicity by year of notification to coroner Year Reported Frequency (open) 2000* 0 (0) (0) (0) (0) (0) (0) (1) (1) (6) 2009^ 6 (5) (13) *From 1 July 2000 only ^ Up to 30 November 2009 Table 2. Number of deaths due to pentobarbitone toxicity, by age range of deceased Age Range Frequency

5 Table 3. Number of deaths due to pentobarbitone toxicity, by gender of deceased Gender of Deceased Frequency Male 32 Female 19 Table 4. Number of deaths due to pentobarbitone toxicity, by location of fatal incident Location of Fatal Incident Frequency Home 35 Hotel/Motel 8 External environment 5 (lookout/bushland/beach) Workplace 2 Entertainment venue 1 Table 5. Number of deaths due to pentobarbitone toxicity, by likely means of obtaining drug Noted likely methods for obtaining Frequency drug Workplace 15 Overseas 8 Unknown/no information 28 In reference to Table 5, where it was noted the deceased worked in the veterinary industry, an assumption was made that the workplace was the likely source of the deceased s access to pentobarbitone (as it is no longer available in Australia as a prescribed substance for humans). In circumstances where it was noted that the pentobarbitone found was contained in a bottle with labelling in a language other than English, it was assumed the pentobarbitone had been acquired from overseas. Of the 51 deaths identified as due to pentobarbitone toxicity, ten (10) instances had information available (via police reports or coronial findings) that Euthanasia material was found at the scene, or the deceased had made contact with Euthanasia organisations prior to death.

6 Table 6. Number of deaths due to pentobarbitone, closed by a coroner, by intent determination Intent of deceased (as on NCIS) Frequency Intentional Self Harm 34 Unlikely to be Known 2 Unintentional 1 Other Intent 1 TOTAL 38 Of the 38 cases closed by a coroner, there were 11 deaths in which the medical cause of death or coronial finding noted the deceased suffered from a significant physical illness, deteriorating health or chronic pain prior to death. If reference to such conditions were only available from the police report, the case was not included (due to an inability to verify the physical ailment suffered).

7 DATA SOURCES Data on the NCIS has been provided by each State and Territory Coroner s Office around Australia. Additional codes are also provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) ACT Magistrates Court and Tribunals Note: In some States/Territories the Coroners Office is part of the Magistrates Court FUNDING AGENCIES Operational funding for the NCIS is provided by the following agencies: Each State and Territory Justice/Attorney-General s Department Australian Department of Health and Ageing Australian Institute of Criminology SafeWork Australia Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government