Table 5.
Reasons for medical toxicology consultation
| 2010 (%) | 2011 (%) | 2012 (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intentional exposure—pharmaceutical | 1,675 (43) | 2,499 (39) | 3,002 (41) |
| Intentional exposure—non-pharmaceutical | 200 (5) | 535 (8) | 883 (12) |
| Unintentional exposure—pharmaceutical | 557 (14) | 761 (12) | 805 (11) |
| Unintentional exposure—non-pharmaceutical | 198 (5) | 293 (5) | 324 (4) |
| Drug abuse—illicit/non-prescription drug abuse | 521 (13) | 348 (5) | 708 (10) |
| Drug abuse—prescription | 531 (13) | 442 (7) | 392 (5) |
| Drug abuse—over-the-counter (added partway through 2012) | NA (0) | NA (0) | 31 (0) |
| Ethanol abuse | NA (0) | 325 (5) | 361 (5) |
| Withdrawal | 296 (8) | 325 (5) | 460 (6) |
| Adverse drug effect | 35 (1) | 95 (1) | 120 (2) |
| Adverse drug reaction | 116 (3) | 229 (4) | 371 (5) |
| Envenomation -total | 137 (3) | 220 (3) | 202 (3) |
| Envenomation -snake | 61 (2) | 120 (2) | 124 (2) |
| Envenomation -spider | 10 (0) | 33 (1) | 38 (1) |
| Envenomation -other | 0 (0) | 6 (0) | 25 (0) |
| Organ system dysfunction | 114 (3) | 116 (2) | 312 (4) |
| Interpretation of laboratory data | 79 (2) | 178 (3) | 161 (2) |
| Occupational evaluation | 120 (3) | 195 (3) | 116 (2) |
| Environmental evaluation | 93 (2) | 199 (3) | 138 (2) |
| Case entries per yeara | 3,936 | 6,456 | 7,269 |
aThe (%) represents the % of time that a reason for medical toxicology consultation was used out of the total case entries per year not the total number of reasons for medical toxicology consultation. Often case entries included more than one reason for toxicology consultation (i.e., illicit drug abuse and alcohol abuse). The total number of Reasons for consultation in 2012 was 8,573. The percentages thus do not add up to 100 %