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Edited on Fri Jun-20-08 02:14 PM by Hissyspit
She had a stroke, too.
From wikipedia:
Prescription drug addiction, theft, and recovery
In 1989, Cindy McCain became addicted to opioid painkillers such as Percocet and Vicodin,<31> which she initially took to alleviate pain following two spinal surgeries for ruptured discs<32><33> and to ease emotional stress during the Keating Five scandal,<31> which involved her as a bookkeeper who had difficulty finding receipts.<14> The addiction progressed to where she resorted to stealing drugs from her own AVMT.<32> During 1992, Tom Gosinski, the director of government and international affairs for AVMT, discovered her drug theft.<34> Subsequently in 1992, her parents staged an intervention to force her to get help;<14> she told her husband about her problem, attended a drug treatment facility, began outpatient sessions, and ended her three years of active addiction.<31> A hysterectomy in 1993 resolved her back pain.<31><33>
In January 1993, McCain terminated Gosinski's employment on grounds of budgetary reasons.<34> In spring 1993, Gosinski tipped off the Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate McCain's drug theft,<34> and a federal investigation ensued. McCain's defense team, led by Washington lawyer John Dowd,<34> secured an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's office that limited her punishment to financial restitution and enrollment in a diversion program, <7><34> without any public disclosure.
Meanwhile, in early 1994 Gosinski filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against McCain, which he told her he would settle for $250,000.<34> In April 1994, Dowd requested that Maricopa County officials investigate Gosinski for extortion.<34> The Phoenix New Times was about to publish a negatively-cast article about the whole affair.<34><31> Cindy McCain pre-empted this<31> by publicly revealing her past addiction, stating she hoped it would give fellow drug addicts courage in their struggles: "Although my conduct did not result in compromising any missions of AVMT, my actions were wrong, and I regret them."<7> A flurry of press attention followed, including charges by Gosinski that she had asked him to lie concerning her drug use when the McCains were applying to adopt their baby from Bangladesh<31> and statements by past AVMT employees that Gosinski had once threatened to blackmail her. The Arizona Republic published an editorial cartoon ridiculing the motivations for her AVMT work<35> and an award dinner in her honor was canceled citing poor ticket sales.<7> In the end, both Gosinski's lawsuit and the extortion investigation against him were dropped.<31>
AVMT concluded its activities in 1995.<26> That year, McCain founded a new organization, the Hensley Family Foundation, which donates monies towards children's programs in Arizona and nationally,<7> and she was largely a stay-at-home mom during the balance of the 1990s.<14> She also held positions as vice president, director, and vice chair of Hensley & Co.<23><22>
Due to high blood pressure, McCain suffered a near-fatal stroke in April 2004.<40><33> After several months of physical therapy to overcome her leg and arm limitations, she made a mostly full recovery, although she still suffers from some short-term memory loss and difficulties in writing.<33> She owns a home in Coronado, California, next to the Hotel del Coronado;<38> her family had vacationed in Coronado growing up, and she now went there for recuperation and family get-togethers.<38> She also owns other residential and commercial real estate in both California and Arizona.<23>
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