by Desdemona Bandini
Here's a look at some famous people who abused medication, who had it all, and died anyway. Rest in peace.
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson, dead at the age of 50. The Dr. Feelgood who administered CPR in Jackson's last moments ain't feeling so good now.
Dr. Conrad Murray was reported by TMZ to have been treating Jackson for only one month prior to his drug-related death. Law enforcement officials raided his Houston medical office this week seeking evidence to build their involuntary manslaughter case. Sources say this is just the tip of the iceberg on a sorrid story with long legs that will take years to unfold. (It must be surreal for Dr. Murray to log onto TMZ and learn the latest strides being made to zero in on him.)
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Heath Ledger Friends, fans and family were shocked to learn that Hollywood's 'golden boy' would join the ranks of the forever young, gone too soon. Ledger was only 28-years-old when he swallowed a lethal cocktail of prescription pills. Eerily reminiscent of his doppelganger River Phoenix.
The autopsy report stated:
"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine,"
"We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications." That's alot of prescriptions. Wonder who his Dr. Feelgood was?
"The DEA has ended their investigation of two doctors in the Heath Ledger case. The doctors supposedly prescribed Heath the pain medication that resulted in his death, but federal agents are clearing them of any wrongdoing."
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Anna Nicole Smith and Son
The tragedy that befell Anna Nicole Smith during her lifetime was nothing short of Shakespearean. A lifelong prescription drug abuser, Smith's rapid rise and decline has been well documented in the media. Her final days were no different with the high of the celebrated birth of her daughter Dannielynn (the battle to be named her baby daddy was beyond insane), only to be replaced with an epic low and tragic death of her beloved son Daniel, from a lethal combination (sound familiar yet?) of methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro. He nodded off in a chair next to her in her hospital room while she slept three days after his sister was born. SO SAD! :-(
Her death was from a combination of eleven prescriptions pills including chloral hydrate, and several sedatives/muscle relaxants (Klonopin, Ativan, Serax and Valium) shortly followed. Three people were charged with eight felonies in relation to her death including her scumbag hanger-on Howard Stern, and two doctor feelgoods: Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich. She was only 39-years-old.
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Connecting the dots...a look back to look forward.
Prescription drugs are
drugs, and doctors that skirt the law and assist celebrities by overmedicating them or writing fake prescriptions for them under assumed names should start to pay attention to this fact: when a celebrity dies, the blood is on their hands and manslaughter charges along with public ruin will surely follow. It is not cool, and people die.
It is illegal to mindfully supply an addict with drugs. In this day and age where prescriptions are stronger, and the side effects of combining medication more lethal, the celebrity Dr. Feelgoods of the world should heed this warning - addiction is an equal opportunity destroyer, (oblivious to status, race, geography, profession etc.) and your addicted patients will kill themselves with the drugs you give them because they are
high and not paying attention. Party like a rockstar and die like a pop star.
I have to wonder if the doctors involved aren't addicts themselves as addiction is rampant in the healthcare profession. Surely whatever compensation and notoriety they receive from being a star's 'hook-up' cannot be equal to the consequences.
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NEED MORE?
Just because they're legal doesn't mean that pharmaceutical drugs are any less dangerous than illicit drugs. They are potentially deadly when taken in large doses or when combined with alcohol or other drugs. Sometimes it takes high-profile cases to remind us of the dangers. Here are 18 such cases.
Marilyn Monroe
Date: August 5, 1962
Drugs: Pentobarbital (AKA Nembutal) and chloral hydrate (sleeping pills)The sex symbol actress was found dead at age 36 in her Los Angeles home early on the morning of August 5. The toxicology report showed high levels of two barbiturates in her blood: Nembutal and chloral hydrate. Monroe's "acute barbiturate poisoning" was listed as a "probable suicide," but many people believe that it was an accidental overdose or even a murder.
Dorothy Dandridge
Date: September 8, 1965
Drug: Imipramine, AKA Tofranil (antidepressant)The first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, the 42-year-old Dandridge was found dead by her manager from what was diagnosed as "acute drug intoxication." Her death was ruled to be due to an accidental overdose of Tofranil, an antidepressant that she took for what today might be diagnosed as bipolar disorder. Some people claim that she died from combining the Tofranil with pain medication she was taking for a broken ankle.
Jimi Hendrix
Date: September 18, 1970
Drug: Secobarbital, AKA Seconal (sleeping pill)The influential American guitarist, 27, was found dead in his girlfriend's London hotel room, although some claim that he died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The cause of death noted on the coroner's report was "inhalation of vomit" after "barbiturate intoxication (quinalbarbitone)". Quinalbarbitone is the British term for the sleep aid secobarbital; the pills belonged to Hendrix's girlfriend. His death is believed to have been accidental, although some have suggested suicide.
Bruce Lee
Date: July 20, 1973
Drug: Equagesic (painkiller)The iconic martial artist died in Hong Kong at the age of 32 from swelling of the brain ("acute cerebral edema") caused by an allergic reaction to the prescription painkiller equagesic, which contains aspirin and the muscle relaxant meprobamate. The pill was given to him by an actress friend after he complained of a headache.
Freddie Prinze
Date: January 29, 1977
Drug: Methaqualone, AKA Quaaludes (sedative)
The young comedian, only 22 at the time of his death, shot himself in the head in a Los Angeles hotel room. What was initially ruled a suicide was later changed to read an "accidental shooting due to the influence of Quaaludes."
Elvis Presley
Date: August 16, 1977
Drugs: As many as 14 different drugs, including codeine (painkiller) and methaqualone, AKA Quaaludes (sedative)
The official cause of death of the King of Rock 'n Roll, then 42, was cardiac arrhythmia (an irregular heartbeat), but it's generally believed that prescription drugs contributed to his heart condition. Although initial statements from the medical examiner excluded drugs as a cause of death, further investigations found that the singer had been prescribed between 5,000 and 10,000 pills in the eight-month span before his death. Presley's doctor, Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, explained the singer's open attitude toward prescription drugs: "He felt that by getting [pills] from a doctor, he wasn't the common everyday junkie getting something off the street."
Keith Moon
Date: September 7, 1978
Drug: Clomethiazole, AKA Heminevrin (sedative)
The Who drummer died in London at age 32 from an accidental overdose of clomethiazole, a drug that was being used to treat his withdrawal symptoms as he attempted to break his addiction to alcohol. However, the sedative, ironically, is itself highly addictive, and medical examiners found 10 times its recommended daily allowance in his system at death.
Abbie Hoffman
Date: April 12, 1989
Drug: Phenobarbital (anti-seizure sedative)
Renowned '60s political activist Hoffman, 52, passed away in his Pennsylvania apartment from an overdose of phenobarbital (150 tablets), in what was officially ruled a suicide -- possibly related to his bipolar disorder.
Steve Clark
Date: January 8, 1991
Drugs: Unspecified antidepressant and painkiller
At the age of 30, Def Leppard guitarist Clark was found dead by his girlfriend in his London home. The cause of death was respiration failure due to an excessive intake of anti-depressants, painkillers (which had been prescribed for a cracked rib) and alcohol. Valium was also found in his system, but not an a harmful level. It was ruled an accidental overdose.
Margaux Hemingway
Date: July 1, 1996
Drug: Phenobarbital (anti-seizure sedative)
The 42-year-old model and actress was found in her Santa Monica, California apartment, dead from an overdose of phenobarbital. It was declared that she'd committed suicide, a day before the 35-year anniversary of her grandfather Ernest Hemingway's own suicide.
Rob Pilatus
Date: April 2, 1998
Drug: Unspecified drug, rumored to be methadone (painkiller, anti-addiction aid)
The 32-year-old Milli Vanilli performer, disgraced when it was revealed that he and his partner never actually sang the vocals on their Grammy-winning debut album, died in a Frankfut, Germany hotel room at the age of 32. Although he had previously attempted suicide, his death was pronounced to be from a heart attack due to an accidental overdose of an unspecified medication (rumored to be methadone, ironically used to treat addiction) and alcohol.
Dana Plato
Date: May 8, 1999
Drugs: Carisoprodol, AKA Soma (muscle relaxant), and Vicodin (painkiller)
The Diff'rent Strokes actress, 34, died in Oklahoma from what was deemed an accidental overdose of two prescription drugs, a muscle relaxant and a painkiller. She had a long track record of abusing prescription drugs, as witnessed by her 1992 arrest for forging a Valium prescription.
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Date: November 13, 2004
Drug: Tramadol (painkiller)
The mercurial rapper from the group the Wu-Tang Clan died in New York City just two days before his 36th birthday from what was ruled to be an accidental overdose of a painkiller combined with cocaine.
Chris Penn
Date: January 24, 2006
Drugs: Promethazine (antihistamine) and codeine (painkiller)
Actor Penn, 40, was found dead in his Santa Monica, California home from cardiomyopathy (heart disease), possibly aggravated by the promethazine and codeine in his system. Obesity and an enlarged heart likely also played a part.
Gerald Levert
Date: November 10, 2006
Drugs: Six drugs: painkillers Vicodin, Percocet and Dextropropoxyphene (AKA Darvocet), sedative/anxiety medication alprazolam (AKA Xanax) and two non-prescription antihistamines
Popular R&B singer Gerald Levert passed away at the age of 40 in his Ohio home from what was labeled accidental acute intoxication due to a combination of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, including painkillers for shoulder and Achilles tendon injuries and Xanax for anxiety attacks.
NEED EVEN MORE? Click HereHOWARD HUGHES. The germophobic genius and subject of Martin Scorcese’s The Aviator died in 1976 in route to a Houston hospital from his Acalpulco estate. Although the official cause of death was liver failure, his autopsy showed lethal amounts of codeine and valium [pictured] in his system.
PS: Madonna is on steroids.