Heath Ledger's Accidental Overdose - Discussion Thread (Was: Breaking News)

[opinionista]

I don't understand.  Accidental death and abuse of prescription medications???  What does that mean? 

Does it just mean that he wasn't using them as prescribed?

Or that they weren't prescribed at all. As Phillip points out drugs like Oxycontin or Vicodine are often abused and bought through dealers. We will never know which was Heath's case. I don't know if he suffered from chronic pain or what or if he took those drugs in order to be able to sleep.

[Phillip Dampier]

Drug Reference

Oxycodone - Pain killer, extremely controlled substance due to high risk of addiction, abuse
Hydrocodone - Pain killer, a/k/a Vicodin, controlled substance due to moderate risk of addiction, abuse
Diazepam - Powerful tranquilizer used in the treatment of anxiety and tension and as a sedative, a muscle relaxant, and an anticonvulsant
Temazepam - A sedative used for extreme cases of insomnia
Alprazolam - Anti-anxiety drug, a/k/a Xanax
Doxylamine - An antihistamine commonly found in over the counter medications, usually used to promote sleep, but also to treat symptoms of a cold

[louisev]

oxycodone is also not necessarily "Oxycontin."  Oxycontin is a high dose, time release buffered tablet whose active ingredient is oxycodone.  Oxycodone is also the drug known in the US as Percocet if compounded with acetominophen, Percodan if compounded with aspirin.

No responsible physician prescribes BOTH oxycodone and hydrocodone since they are meant to do the same thing, and are class A narcotic pain relievers, so that is probably what is meant when they cited "prescription drug abuse."  Not taking them as prescribed.

[Kd5000]

This is true Opinionista.  Ppl go to see several doctors as well, pay out of pocket, the doctor isn't any wiser that the patient has already been prescribed Xanax.  I mean who prescribes Xanax and Valium.    

There is much abuse of "pain medication" in this country with many "pain clinics."  It's highly addictive and highly profitable to the pharmaceutical industry.  

[Phillip Dampier]

oxycodone is also not necessarily "Oxycontin."  Oxycontin is a high dose, time release buffered tablet whose active ingredient is oxycodone.  Oxycodone is also the drug known in the US as Percocet if compounded with acetominophen, Percodan if compounded with aspirin.

Yeah, this is true: (Wikipedia)

Oxycodone is an opioid analgesic medication synthesized from thebaine. It was developed in 1916 in Germany and introduced to the pharmaceutical market as Eukodal® (also spelled Eucodal) and Dinarkon®. Its chemical name is derived from codeine - the chemical structures are very similar, differing only in that the hydroxyl group of codeine has been oxidized to a carbonyl group (as in ketones), hence the "-one" suffix, the 7,8-dihydro-feature (codeine has a double-bond between those two carbons), and the hydroxyl group at carbon 14 (codeine has just a hydrogen in its place), hence "oxy"codone.

In the United States, oxycodone is a Schedule II controlled substance both as a single agent and in combination with products containing paracetamol (aka acetaminophen), ibuprofen or aspirin. It was first introduced to the US market in May 1939 and is the active ingredient in a number of pain medications commonly prescribed for the relief of moderate to heavy pain, either with inert binders (Oxycodone, Oxycontin) or supplemental analgesics such as acetaminophen (Percocet, Tylox) and aspirin (Percodan).

Oxycodone is a drug subject to abuse,[1] and is included in the sections for the most strongly controlled substances that have a commonly accepted medical use under the German Betäubungsmittelgesetz III) (narcotics law), the Swiss law of the same title, UK Misuse of Drugs Act (Class A), Canadian Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA), Dutch Opium Law (List 1), Austrian Suchtmittelgesetz (Addictives Act), Australian, New Zealand, Japanese and South African controlled substance laws, to name but a few. It is also subject to international treaties controlling psychoactive drugs subject to abuse or dependence.

[MaineWriter]

I suspect that there were multiple doctors prescribing the medications, not just one. One of the early reports said that some of the prescriptions were filled in England, and others in the US.

It is a pretty common scenario for someone to say, "I have a prescription for X and it's not working really well" so the physician writes a prescription for Y which is in the same class of medications. Diazepam, temazepam, and alprazolam are all in the same class of anti-anxiety medications. (Their brand names are Valium, Restoril, and Xanax.) Oxycodone and hydrocodone are in the same class of opioid analgesics (Common brand names are Oxycotin and Vicodin, although as Louise noted there are different forumlations oxycodone on the market with different brand names.) The last one, doxylamine, is an antihistamine which can be used for short-term treatment of insomnia.

Whether Heath was not forthcoming with medications he was receiving or the doctors mis-prescribed them we'll probably never know. Anyway you look at it, it's a tragedy.

L

[Brown Eyes]

This report is so depressing and heartbreaking.

But, at least we have an answer it would have been so hard if the results came back as inconclusive again.

[louisev]

I for one am relieved

a) that they were able to determine a cause of death

b) that the cause of death was not heroin or cocaine overdose.  If only because the pain and scandal that would arise from it would be far greater than taking too many prescriptions.  Also, I may be wrong on this, if there was evidence of cocaine or heroin abuse, such as has been widely rumored about him, I think they would have found evidence of that as a contributing factor in his death.  But that is speculation on my part - I know little about heroin or cocaine abuse.

[mvansand76]

I'm still too baffled to even think straight. I can't understand why I feel relieved. I guess I'm relieved because, as I thought, it wasn't hard drugs that killed him and he didn't kill himself. On the other hand, his death could have been prevented. That makes me so angry. I don't know at whom.

[Sandy]

that the cause of death was not heroin or cocaine overdose.  

I, rather stupidly, was hoping they would come back and say they got it wrong: that the painkillers were in fact paracetomol and ibuprofen and he had died of natual causes.  I must now cling to the idea that he didn't knowingly go out and buy them himself, he just went on a 'bad' Doctor's advice.