Four in every five overdose deaths in Wyndham involved pharmaceutical drugs in the five years to 2015, data from the Coroner’s Court of Victoria reveals.
Between 2009 and 2015, there were 58 overdose deaths in the municipality, accounting for three per cent of such deaths in metropolitan Melbourne.
Forty-five of the Wyndham deaths involved prescription drugs; illegal drugs were involved in 25 cases and alcohol in six.
Some of the fatal overdoses arose from a combination of the substances.
The data, drawn from the Victorian Overdose Deaths Register, was released with coronial findings into the death of Frank Edward Frood, a 47-year-old Hampton Park man, who died from respiratory problems “on a background of methadone and benzodiazepine use”.
The data reveals pharmaceutical drugs were the most frequent contributors to overdose deaths in Victoria from 2009 to 2015, being involved in about 80 per cent of deaths each year.
Municipalities with the highest number of overdose deaths were Port Phillip (132), Yarra (131) and Melbourne (129).
While Wyndham witnessed comparatively fewer such deaths, Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association executive officer Sam Biondo said the figure could climb as the city’s population booms.
The drug responsible for most overdose deaths involving pharmaceutical drugs was Diazepam, also known as Valium.
