BREAKING Heath Ledger died of accidental overdose

[underpants]

Source: MSNBC

28-year-old actor had oxycodone, anti-anxiety, sleep aids in his system

Breaking news

updated 11 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner said Wednesday.

The cause of death was “acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine,” spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement.

The drugs are the generic names for the painkiller OxyContin, the anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom. Hydrocodone is another name for ibuprofen.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23029566 /

[Bonobo]

1. If he was taking all that, his DOCTOR killed him IMHO.

[underpants]

6. He probably got them from different doctors

I think he started on one of the pills while on location (read that somewhere). I don't know how much liability a doctor has if a patient doesn't tell him what other meds he is on

[Bonobo]

10. I was exaggerating to make a point.

This shit is out of control.

I watch my kids grow up in a society that gives very mixed messages about drugs.

On the illegal side,
we've got a plant that grows naturally like a weed.
We've got opiates that ease the pain and make you feel groovy.
We've got powdery things that speed you up.
We've got things you put in your mouth that make you relaxed.

On the legal side,
we've got a plant that grows naturally like a weed.
We've got opiates that ease the pain and make you feel groovy.
We've got powdery things that speed you up.
We've got things you put in your mouth that make you relaxed.

[Stuart G]

22. Yes..the Doctor, or Doctors killed him..but........

.. the chances are he did not know how dangerous that shit was/is .............xanax, valium, etc..strong shit. yep..and if he tried to go off these things............holly hell breaks lose. your body kinda..well hurts........

But the Doctor's, assholes that they are,......never really tell you how strong these benzos are. You mix em up, just to get more sleep...and guess what..you sleep less......

...........Makes me sick to think about it.......
........Stuart.............

[Mike Daniels]

26. So there aren't directions on his prescription medication?

How about putting some blame on the person who didn't follow directions on a bottle?

It's tragic that he died but I'd say it's more his doing than a doctor's fault at this point in time.

[Stuart G]

33. Mike..sure some of the blame goes to ......

the person taking the meds...........Some............

A 27 year old thinks he can control everything. Especially someone on top like this guy.. So he must be told you cannot control this shit, and be very careful with it. .

Did the doctor tell him this?.....Did he know how dangerous this shit really was?
Who knows? When people at this board over-use this shit, do we know it? I doubt it. Yes, it is the user's fault. He died.
But did the user know?...that is something we will never know........

Right now, I know two people taking xanex......I wonder out loud if they know that getting drunk, and taking xanex, is a very, very dangerous combination. Perhaps I will talk to them.........cause it could kill them.........

[Frank Cannon]

54. He was self-medicating

He admitted in an interview that he adjusted his Ambien dose when he couldn't sleep while making The Dark Knight. He said he took two of those little beasts and only slept for an hour.

Doctors aren't mind-readers. Patients should let their doctors know all the drugs they are currently taking and their dosages and schedules. They should also NEVER adjust their meds on their own without consulting their doctor.

But then, patients often don't. And shit like this happens.

[cyclezealot]

36. are not doctors supposed to ask

when they prescribe; what other drugs do you take. And we wonder why we have so many Brittany Spears. Being drunk, did not help, god its so easy to get blurry vision with too much Jack Daniels.

[dflprincess]

53. And everyone tells their doctor the truth?

The other one who might have caught this was the pharmacist who filled the prescriptions - but I bet he used more than one pharmacy.

[elias7]

52. I guess I'm one of those assholes

No doctor would write for, nor would any pharmacy fill redundant Rx's in this manner. It is almost a certainty that he used several different doctors (which is illegal, ie doctor shopping), several different pharmacies, and it is possible that he received some of his stash from friends. You cannot leave many doctor's offices, ER's, etc. or pharmacies without getting explicit written an usually oral warnings about the sedating qualities of such meds, as well as warnings about using them in combination.

We see this kind of stuff often in the Emergency Department, where I have worked for almost 15 years. Intentional, accidental or somewhere in between, I have strong doubts that someone taking two different opiates, three different benzodiazepines, and an anti-histamine (all 6 are sedatives), would be unaware that there is some danger in taking all that at once.

[elehhhhna]

2. "Hydrocodone is another name for ibuprofen." lol. IS NOT!

[SharonAnn]

12. Hydrocodone IS NOT another name for ibuprofen. It's a closely regulated drug.

I believe it's brand name was Vicodine, but I could be wrong.

Hydrocodone is what my doctors have prescribed for pain when I've been recovering from surgery. They don't like you to be on it too long. It's apparently addictive.

[thereismore]

23. Vicodin is highly addictive. Ruins lives. nt

[High Plains]

28. Vicodin is an effective pain reliever. Improves lives.

The number of people who get addicted after using pills for pain relief is really quite small, maybe 1% or 2%.

There are other people, however, who like to take these things and may get strung out.

[Samurai_Writer]

34. Hydrocodone is Codeine

I was just on some cough syrup with hydrocodone (codeine) for a bad case of bronchitis.

[PassingFair]

42. Hydrocodone is Vicodin n/t

[paulk]

47. you're correct - I took one last night

'cause I kind of tweaked my back on the ice the other day.

Vicodine is pretty powerful stuff, not like ibuprofin at all.

[elehhhhna]

48. IIRC it is synthetic codiene. YOU WERE TWEAKED ON ICE? Dude,

get help!

[geomon666]

51. I've been on it for about 8 months now.

And I'm not addicted. But that's probably because I take it when I really, really need it. I have chronic back and knee pain and most days I just wing it.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

29. That jumped out at me too.

Hydrocodone is a semi-synthetic opiate drug and ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

Vicoprofen is the brand name of hydrocodone and ibuprofen in a combination drug.

Sloppy reporting.

[emmadoggy]

37. You beat me to it!

It's a Schedule III narcotic. NOT AT ALL the same as ibuprofen.

Geez.

[kath]

50. Wow, way to research that article, MSNBC!!

frikkin morans.

how damned hard is it to look up drug names? Jeebus.

[Missy M]

3. He must have been going to...

different doctors to be able to get that many painkillers, etc. What a shame.

[Beausoleil]

4. Hydrocodone = ibuprofen?????

Don't think so.

[Xipe Totec]

7. Probably meant Vicodin or Vicoprofen

that's a big oops!

[underpants]

8. Hydrocodone is an orally active narcotic analgesic and antitussive

Hydrocodone or dihydrocodeinone is a semi-synthetic opioid derived from two of the naturally occurring opiates, codeine and thebaine.


Marketed as Vicodin, Anexsia, Dicodid, Hycodan (or generically Hydromet), Hycomine, Lorcet, Lortab, Norco, Novahistex, Hydroco, Tussionex, Vicoprofen, Xodol. Bekadid, Calmodid, Codinovo, Duodin, Kolikodol, Orthoxycol, Mercodinone, Synkonin, Norgan, Hydrokon, Hydrocodone is commonly available in tablet, capsule and syrup form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocodone

[Beausoleil]

15. MSNBC has not corrected the error

I am not generally into prescription drugs, but I've known for a long time that Hydrocodone is essentially synthetic codeine.

I am very familiar with Ibuprofen, since that is the only OTC pain reliever I use. Never got a buzz from it.

[orleans]

46. they corrected it now. i did a word search and can't find ibuprofen. n/t

[King Coal]

30. I take that stuff all the time, morphine and percocets too. I never get addicted,

but I can see how it can happen. You have to be careful.

[qanda]

9. I was taking hydrocodone and I can confirm that it is far from ibuprofen

My doctor had prescribed 25mg of hydrocodone for migraines and the pharmacy mistakenly gave me 75mg-- I slept for 24 hours straight. That stuff is no joke.

[libbygurl]

5. What? Hydrocodone is NOT= ibuprofen! /Wow, if he had all that...

...in his system, was he just taking all these drugs all at once?

I did suspect he had an overdose of something, but geez, taking in all these drugs in combination (as evidenced by the toxicological results, if we're to believe this report) will kill you, indeed! Probably respiratory depression end result.

[Wcross]

11. But those are all "good" drugs! Not evil illegal drugs like maryjoewanna.

Good thing he didn't break any of our drug laws, he used safe pharmaceutical drugs.


It is a terrible tragedy, I am not making light of his death but rather the insanity of our "war on some drugs" & the pimping of pharmaceutical companies deadly products.

[shain from kane]

13. I think everyone in this day and age is aware of over-medication, and the powerful effect of

combination of drugs.

He died of his own gross stupidity. There, I said it.

[Guitarman]

20. I have to agree.

I cannot feel to much sympathy for someone who pops that many prescription drugs like they were Pez. It is just stupid.

[thereismore]

24. I think he could not shake off the character he prepared so deeply for - the Joker.

His Joker is a homicidal sociopath. I think Heath got too deep into the mind of Joker and lost the ability to sleep. After a while, you'll do anything to sleep. He took those drugs to get some sleep, not to kill himself, so in that sense I guess his death was an accidental overdose, but the whole thing was no accident. I think he may have had some meds prescribed in Europe as well.

[hedgehog]

44. Someone takes a pill, wakes up later on and takes another pill

because they forgot they took the first. It happen aall the time. That's why every medication you recieve in a hospital is charted. When my kids were on antibiotics and pain killers after gettting their wisdom teeth out, we kept a note of what they took and when. The antibiotics were every 6 hours; the pain killers every 4. As someone who takes some medications daily for chronic conditions, I can tell you it is easy to get confused if you don't follow a rigid schedule.

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. Okay, so Hydrocodone is Vicodin ....

plus OxyContin. Had he been injured? What's with all the uber pain meds?

Nevertheless, a tragic loss.

[Beausoleil]

17. From what I understand about it, he had problems sleeping

and adjusting to reality after finishing an acting job. He got into the characters so much that it was difficult for him to be his real "self" again, including sleeping.

Why that combination of prescription drugs? Don't know, but I'd say don't try this yourself.

[WilyWondr]

16. Accidental?

How in the world do they think he was taking all of these medications accidentally? Do they think he was taking pills while he was unconscious? Do you think we will hear what levels of these drugs were in his system and how many pills it would have taken to get to that level? I doubt it.

The accidental aspect of this story is BS IMO. He knew what he was taking and he knew how much would kill him.

"Heath Ledger died of an overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs"

[uppityperson]

41. Are you saying there are no accidental overdoses, only planned suicides?

What a thoughtless thing to say. Shame on you. Or maybe you are saying you can read minds and I should be in awe of you?

[sam sarrha]

18. mixing the drugs he was taking could easily have been the cause of his anxiety,. made worse by more

drugs to treat that too.. exactly what happened in my family

[thereismore]

25. Yes, he needed a rehab at this point, not another movie. Klonopin alone

can give you anxiety, and an addiction that's much more difficult to kick than heroin. I heard that from some celeb who kicked both.

[fed-up]

19. 4th leading cause of death nation wide-adverse reaction to prescription drugs-from FDA

and my doc is blaming my swollen hard as a rock, painful lymph nodes on a virus and NOT on an adverse reaction to the anti-convulsant I had been on for nine days, without ANY proof that a virus was to blame-I have never had a lymph node get that rock hard that quickly and low and behold two days after I stopped the lamictal the swelling decreased

Since the hypersensitivity to anti-convulsants is genetic the doc should have ordered bloodwork. I have since learned my sister had a hypomanic reaction to an anti-convulsant prescribed for her MS. I still have to dig up my mom's medical records as I do remember that her liver couldn't handle dilantin for seizures after her stroke. I do remember she got a rash, but don't remember if it was when she was taking the dilantin

http://www.fda.gov/CDER/DRUG/drugReactions/default.htm

Preventable Adverse Drug Reactions:
A Focus on Drug Interactions

..snip

The first question healthcare providers should ask themselves is "why is it important to learn about ADRs?" The answer is because ADRs are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in health care. The Institute of Medicine reported in January of 2000 that from 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur annually from medical errors.1 Of this total, an estimated 7,000 deaths occur due to ADRs. To put this in perspective, consider that 6,000 Americans die each year from workplace injuries.

However, other studies conducted on hospitalized patient populations have placed much higher estimates on the overall incidence of serious ADRs. These studies estimate that 6.7% of hospitalized patients have a serious adverse drug reaction with a fatality rate of 0.32%.2 If these estimates are correct, then there are more than 2,216,000 serious ADRs in hospitalized patients, causing over 106,000 deaths annually. If true, then ADRs are the 4th leading cause of death—ahead of pulmonary disease, diabetes, AIDS, pneumonia, accidents, and automobile deaths.

These statistics do not include the number of ADRs that occur in ambulatory settings. Also, it is estimated that over 350,000 ADRs occur in U.S. nursing homes each year.3 The exact number of ADRs is not certain and is limited by methodological considerations. However, whatever the true number is, ADRs represent a significant public health problem that is, for the most part, preventable.

1Committee on Quality of Health Care in America: Institute of Medicine. To err is human: building a safer health system. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 2000. 2Lazarou J, Pomeranz B, Corey PN. Incidence of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients: A meta-analysis of prospective studies. JAMA 1998;279:1200–1205. 3Gurwitz JH, Field TS, Avorn J, McCormick D, Jain S, Eckler M, et al. Incidence and preventability of adverse drug events in nursing homes. Am J Med 2000;109(2):87–94.

..snip

[thereismore]

21. Why won't OxyContin kill the right person??? Someone who's done nothing good on this Earth? nt

[joeybee12]

27. Very sad...this is what the business does to people like Heath,

probably emotionally a little unstable, and a little obsessive-compulsive...creative types are like that to begin with and the industry just intensifies this. His is a common, yet very sad and tragic story.

[RedShoesBlueState]

31. I nearly died from an overdose of Oxycodone in October

Oxycodone is powerful stuff. I had surgery, and was sent home after a night in the hospital. With the residual effects of the anesthesia still in place, the dosage of oxycodone was apparently too strong. My sister couldn't wake me up the morning of the next day. I don't even remember most of this, but she managed to get me in a car and took me to the hospital to my surgeon's office, where I was immediately rushed to the Emergency Room. My respiration was depressed (oxycodone can do that too), and they gave me this horrrrrible drug called "Narcon" or something that immediately stripped away all the narcotics. It felt like my body was being turned inside out, and this horrible feeling of dread and death just ran through my body. THAT, I remember. Then, I spent four days in the ICU on oxygen while they worked to normalize my respiration with breathing treatments.

So...what I'm trying to say is....oxycodone is nothing to mess around with casually. Combining it with other drugs? Just plain Russian Roulette.

[mahina]

35. Wow...close one!

God bless.

[leftchick]

32. uh Hello! "hydrocodone/acetaminophen" aka: Tylenol

the big boy arsenal of tylenol combined with hydrocodone becomes Vicodin....

http://www.medicinenet.com/hydrocodoneacetaminophen/art...

GENERIC NAME: hydrocodone/acetaminophen
BRAND NAMES: Vicodin, Vicodin ES, Anexsia, Lorcet, Lorcet Plus, Norco

DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Hydrocodone is a narcotic pain–reliever and a cough suppressant, similar to codeine. Hydrocodone blocks the receptors on nerve cells in the brain that give rise to the sensation of pain. Acetaminophen is a non–narcotic analgesic (pain reliever) and antipyretic (fever reducer). Acetaminophen works by elevating the threshold to pain, that is, in order for pain to be felt, greater stimulation of the nerves responsible for the sensation of pain is necessary. It reduces fever through its action on the temperature–regulating center of the brain. Frequently, hydrocodone and acetaminophen are combined to achieve pain relief, as in Vicodin and Lortab. For more information please see acetaminophen (Tylenol).

PRESCRIPTION: Yes

GENERIC AVAILABLE: Yes

PREPARATIONS: Tablets, capsules and liquid. Among the many brands the dose of acetaminophen ranges between 500 and 750 mg, and the dose of hydrocodone ranges between 2.5 and 10 mg.

Crappy reporting as ususal

[Vilis Veritas]

38. Delete...repeat.

should have read the thread...

[Zorra]

39. Why would anybody want to put any of that crap in their body?

That stuff is not medicine.

It is poison.

People are poisoning themselves because living in our society is in many cases so far from any natural form of human existence that people take poisons to alter the way they feel, rather than being given the guidance and opportunity to overcome the symptoms of hopelessness and despair that are brought forth by living in a totally insane environment.

[Scout]

40. sorry, talk therapy can't alter brain chemistry n/t

[Zorra]

43. Are you completely sure of that?

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20040521-000010...

[uppityperson]

49. So I shouldn't be taking pain killers after my surgery?

My sib should just commit suicide rather than taking anti-depressants for a biological chemical imbalance? Wow. Thanks for your open mind.

[Zorra]

57. Better living through chemistry. Take as many drugs as you feel are necessary

to get you through your life, if that is the only way you can survive.

[uppityperson]

58. Antidepressants can be misused, as can many things, but also have proper uses.

As do pain meds, etc. There is no 1 right answer for everyone, all the time, every case. Yes, taking these "poisons" right now helps me heal. When I no longer need them, I will stop, preferably before I turn into Rush. Unfortunately every time my sib tries to get off Rx'd antidepressants it doesn't work as sib's issue is not "hopelessness and despair that are brought forth by living in a totally insane environment". My child got through school without ritalin, but with much assistance and personal attention.

There is no 1 right answer all the time, good to make sure things are needed before taking them and taking only what is needed.

[orleans]

45. holy shit! n/t

[UTUSN]

55. & LIMBOsevic walks among us. n/t

[superconnected]

56. I guess I better go get the britney out of the nuthouse post.

[likesmountains 52]

59. I have to think that most people would realize that this combination of drugs was...bad..

[Norrin Radd]

60. Again, RIP Heath, from a Bat-fan. Going to be sad watching that movie

this summer.