Failed Suicides in the ER

U.S. health experts reported Thursday that up to 70% of all nonfatal, self-inflicted injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms were the result of failed suicide attempts.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed 158,466 of the estimated 264,108 people who visited emergency rooms for self-inflicted poisoning, cuts, gun wounds and other injuries in 2000 had likely tried to kill themselves.

Another 27,294 emergency room cases stemmed from possible suicide attempts, according to the study, which was based on extrapolated data collected from 66 hospitals across the nation.

Although comparable data was not available for other years, officials with the Atlanta-based CDC said the study would help doctors and other health-care providers better understand the nature of self-inflicted violence and suicidal behavior. Suicide is the eighth-leading cause of death in the U.S. and the second-leading cause of death for those 25 to 34. About 29,000 of the 650,000 Americans who attempt suicide each year die.

In the CDC study, adolescents between 15 and 19 and young adults 20 to 34 accounted for 59% of the nonfatal, self-inflicted injuries reported by the hospitals. Women made up about 57% of the injuries.