Suicide Experts: Drugs chosen by Bernie & Ruth Madoff for alleged "suicide pact" among "the safest"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Suicide Experts Dubious of Ruth and Bernie Madoff's Intentions
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES | ABC News – 21 hrs ago

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http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-experts-dubious-ruth-bernie-madoffs-intentions-200026228.html

Bernie and Ruth Madoff's alleged suicide attempt on Christmas Eve in 2008, just after their sons had turned over the Ponzi schemer and his wife to federal authorities, appears to have been either half-hearted or ill-planned if true, according to overdose experts.

Of all the drugs they chose for their suicide pact, the sleeping medication Ambien and anti-anxiety pill Klonopin are among the safest drugs around, if not taken in combination with alcohol or other more powerful drugs that could paralyze respiration.

Ambien is a brand name for zolpidem, which is in a group of drugs related to the benzodiazepines and acts in a similar way. Klonopin is a brand name for clonazepam, which is one of the benzodiazepines.

Taken by mouth, alone, by an otherwise-healthy adult who's used them before, neither drug is likely to cause death. No one knows for sure, but the Madoffs may have been naïve about the strength of the drugs -- or they never intended to die.

[deaniac21]

1. The sunsets come, the sunsets go.

The clouds roll by,and the earth turns old.
And the Madoff's eyes do always glow.
They must fly.

[dbt]

4. Well done!

And I coulda sworn I heard the transmitter carrying Beaker Street.

[MilesColtrane]

2. He was too squeamish for superficial wrist cuts?

Maybe he didn't think those would be as convincing in court as DRUGS!

Anyhoo, it was prison for him and not a cushy hospital.

[banned from Kos]

3. Frontline reported that the guy blamed for the Anthrax plot

killed himself via Tylenol overdose - and is among the most painful ways to go.

[Ikonoklast]

5. An entire family of common thieves.