Gender differences in acute recreational drug toxicity: a case series from Oslo, Norway.

One in four patients treated for acute recreational drug toxicity were women. Female patients were younger, had more frequently taken GHB and were less frequently intubated. Otherwise, the gender differences regarding clinical state and treatment were small. Although female drug users are known to report poorer health than males, we did not find that women had a more severe clinical course than men when presenting with overdose.