06 CAUSE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY RISKS OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS. ALEXANDER, CHECKOWAY, NAGAHAMA, DOMINO, ANESTHESIOLOGY 2000. The mortality risks of 40,211 internal medicine physicians was compared with that of 40,242 anesthesiologists between 1979 and 1995 using the physician master file database. The standardised mortality rate for all physicians was below 1.0 Anesthesiologists had an increased risk of suicide (1.45), and drug related death particularly in the first 5 years after medical school graduation (2.79), and male anesthesiologists for HIV (1.82). Conclusion was that substance abuse and suicide represented significant occupational hazards for anesthesiologists and new methods to combat substance abuse among anesthesiologists should be developed.