Macleod J, et al. - In view of the increase in deaths in opioid-dependent individuals despite the fact that many undergo opioid agonist treatment (OAT), an effective treatment, researchers investigated if medicines prescribed in addition to OAT affect the risk of death, even if these medicines also increase retention in treatment. The Clinical Practice Research Datalink yielded data on 12,118 patients aged 15–64 years prescribed OAT between 1998 and 2014. The Office for National Statistics yielded data on patients who had died; the cause of death was available for 7,016 of these patients. The analysis revealed an increased risk of death among individuals additionally prescribed a particular type of sedative—benzodiazepines—from overdose, despite staying in treatment longer. Further, there was an association of co-prescription of z-drugs and gabapentinoids with increased mortality risk; however, for z-drugs, no evidence for a dose-response effect on drug-related poisoning (DRP) was identified, and for gabapentinoids, the elevated mortality risk was not specific to DRP. Based on these findings, they suggest clinicians practice caution when prescribing benzodiazepines to opioid-dependent individuals.