FOI reference: FOI-2025-2658
You asked
Is it possible to get data showing the number of deaths from paracetamol overdose in children aged under 18 in the last 10 years in England?
And whether they were intentional, unintentional, acute or chronic overdoses?
We said
Thank you for your request.
We publish regular annual statistics on drug poisoning deaths registered in England and Wales.
Statistics for deaths involving paracetamol are available in table 4 of the Deaths related to drug poisoning, England and Wales dataset.
These estimates are based on analysis of text that appears on the death certificate that is usually written by the coroner. We do not receive any information in this text that enables us to produce statistics on whether the death was an intentional, unintentional, acute or chronic overdose.
We do not routinely produce a breakdown for this substance type for those aged under 18. This is because the number of deaths is very low, so breakdowns for this age group by individual substance would produce low figures that would be statistically unreliable and potentially disclosive.
We could produce the requested analysis via our bespoke services route. However, please note that we would not recommend drawing conclusions regarding the trend in deaths by this particular substance in this age group from this information. Please also note that there are likely to be suppressions in the data, as low figures could allow an individual to be identified. Bespoke services are subject to legal frameworks, resources, disclosure controls, and an agreement of costs in line with the ONS Charging Policy.
If you'd like to proceed with commissioning this analysis, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk for a quote.