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Objective To study the association between benzodiazepine prescribing patterns including dose, type, and dosing schedule and the risk of death from drug overdose among US veterans receiving opioid analgesics.

Design Case-cohort study.

Setting Veterans Health Administration (VHA), 2004-09.

Participants US veterans, primarily male, who received opioid analgesics in 2004-09. All veterans who died from a drug overdose (n=2400) while receiving opioid analgesics and a random sample of veterans (n=420 386) who received VHA medical services and opioid analgesics.

Main outcome measure Death from drug overdose, defined as any intentional, unintentional, or indeterminate death from poisoning caused by any drug, determined by information on cause of death from the National Death Index.

Results During the study period 27% (n=112 069) of veterans who received opioid analgesics also received …