Number of patients in each COD category and the MS relationship for the 81 deaths in the different randomised treatment-allocation groups (numbers in parentheses represent MS-related deaths)
| IFNβ-1b | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placebo | 50 µg | 250 µg | Total | |
| Number of Deaths | 37 | 22 | 22 | 81 |
| Category of death | ||||
| 1. Cardiovascular disease and stroke | 4 (1) | 1 (0) | 5 (1) | 10 (2) |
| 2. All cancers | 1 (0) | 3 (0) | 2 (1) | 6 (1) |
| 3. Pulmonary infectious diseases | 12 (11) | 2 (2) | 3 (3) | 17 (16) |
| 4. Sepsis* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5. Accidental death | 2 (1) | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 3 (2) |
| 6. Suicide | 3 (3) | 2 (2) | 3 (3) | 8 (8) |
| 7. Death due to MS | 9 (9) | 6 (6) | 6 (6) | 21 (21) |
| 8. Other known COD | 1 (0) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 2 (1) |
| Total: COD known | 32 (25) | 15 (11) | 20 (15) | 67 (51) |
| Other MS relationships | ||||
| COD known; MS relation unknown | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| MS relation known; COD unknown | 1 (1) | 2 (1) | 1 (1) | 4 (3) |
| COD unknown; MS relation unknown | 4 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| Total: MS relationship known | 32 | 17 | 20 | 69 |
*NB: The NDI death-certificate data does not include ‘sepsis’ as a separate COD category. Therefore these entries are all zero.
COD, cause-of-death; IFNβ-1b, interferon β-1b; MS, multiple sclerosis.