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

[Brown Eyes]

Elle, you have formulated exactly what I have been struggling with since I read that report. He *was* a very intelligent person, could hardly be oblivious to the controversies surrounding anti-depressants and their unpleasant effects and risks, the medical industry being accused of "pushing" medicaments at doctors and on to patients, the risk in general of combining types of medication and the need to ask one doctor prescribing you a drug what it'll do in combination with other drugs you're taking etc. etc. etc.

I just can't wrap my mind around taking so many different types of medication during a relatively short timespan....

Perhaps it's just my personal outlook. I'm always extremely cautious about any kind of medication and quiz the doctors trying to prescribe me anything whether it's truly necessary, what the exact effect is, what the possible risks are, and what it will do in combination with other drugs. And trust me - I've had my share of major medical crisis situations in my life so I've been there when it comes to taking medication (though not the types of drugs that Heath used). I've refused medication based on an overall evaluation of the pros and cons the doctors (and other medical information) have presented me with - though of course, never flying against expert opinions if the doctors insisted I *had* to take the drugs to avoid physical injury or worse.

At the end of the day, we are responsible for weighing the benefits and the risks of the drugs we take, make informed decisions.... and I just can't fathom someone as bright and gifted and knowledgable and intelligent and overall healthy as Heath downing all that crap that was in his system. Even if doctors prescribed them to him on various occasions. Even if he was having problems sleeping and feeling down. I simply honestly can't understand it. I'm not criticizing Heath here, I'm just totally baffled and confounded and very, very sad. What happened was a horrible tragedy. I just cant understand how that could happen.

Heya Elle and Mikaela,

I understand where you two are coming from.  This really distressing and large mix of drugs just speaks to a kind of desparation that's very troubling to me.  Whether it was something as simple as wanting to get some sleep, or something much more complex.  Essentially, to me it's very sad and troubling that Heath was in such distress (over something) that he took such a radical combination of things in a relatively short time span.  

It just seems like something was terribly wrong to lead him to take such a radical combo.

[Verona]

I just asked my mother what she takes:

Effexor, Vicodin, Zyrtec, Lunesta, Paxil and Lipitor.

Different doctors, because she goes to different doctors for different things (like I have a neurologist, a general doctor, a gynecologist, another lady-parts doctor and a sports medicine guy for tendinitis). Like mine, all her doctors prescribe drugs for the condition she goes to them for. I've been prescribed Effexor for headaches, Restoril and Xanax for tendinitis, Ambien for occasional insomnia, Vicodin after wisdom tooth surgery... hated them all and stopped after like one pill. But it would have been completely above-board to find all of those in my medicine cabinet, all prescribed by different doctors for different reasons.

[HerrKaiser]

: my best friend has diabetic neuropathy and chronic pain and does not go to a hospital for oxycontin prescriptions - he goes to a doctor.

misread my post. Fed law allows only some docs to PRESCRIBE but these docs do not have nor are allowed to distribute oxycontin. And retail pharmacies do not stock it either. If your friend is getting directly from the office doc, very unusual.

[louisev]

And there is no indication that Heath has ever been prescribed Oxycontin.  I am sorry but your information does not jibe with my knowledge or experience regarding the drug Herr Kaiser.  Yes, my friend gets his prescriptions from his doctor, and gets the drugs from a normal chain pharmacy.  But discussion of oxycontin is really not relevant here.

[serious crayons]

I've only read the past five or so pages of this thread, but I'm going to jump in here because I just posted this on a different thread, oblivious to the debate raging on this one.

I like taking drugs. Not so much as I did in my youth, but still. It's a common human impulse and I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it, though one has to be careful about the dangers. I also have a pretty high tolerance -- not quite up there at the Keith Richards level, but closer to that end of the spectrum.

Recently I injured my back, and the urgent-care doctor prescribed Vicodin and Valium simultaneously. I felt like I'd hit the jackpot. It made the back pain worth it! (Am I starting to sound weird? Sorry.)

I was kind of amazed that he'd let me take those two both simultaneously. Plus, I still had some other (completely ineffectual) drugs that my regular doctor had given me the day before. I quit taking those, though theoretically I could have continued. I figured the new doctor must know what he's talking about, so I went ahead and took them, with predictably enjoyable effects.

But when I think about throwing Xanax and Oxywhatever and all those other things into the mix ... well, that is a huge, huge scary amount of stuff.

It's not a matter of blame or fault or accusations of wrongdoing -- any such issues are beside the point and tragically irrelevant now anyway. But I do think that this was more than just a natural mistake that anyone might easily make.

I don't think those who say this have any intention of hurting Heath or his loved ones. They're just voicing normal curiosity and concern about the puzzling, tragic death of someone we all cared about, an event that has deeply saddened us all.

[Verona]

And there is no indication that Heath has ever been prescribed Oxycontin.  I am sorry but your information does not jibe with my knowledge or experience regarding the drug Herr Kaiser.  Yes, my friend gets his prescriptions from his doctor, and gets the drugs from a normal chain pharmacy.  But discussion of oxycontin is really not relevant here.

The TV news here in NYC also just reported "oxycontin." Grrrrr. Oxycodone. Like Percocet.

[louisev]

Oxycodone is the active narcotic compound, oxycontin is a specific long-duration compound of pure oxycodone with a buffering agent in the tablet.  And yes, oxycodone is the active ingredient in Percodan (which is oxycodone with aspirin) and Percocet (which is oxycodone with acetominophen.)  Following an accident I was prescribed Percocet for 6 months - it produces a zombie-like somnolence.  If you look up either oxycodone or hydrocodone on Wiki, both of them are contraindicated to take with any tranquilizers or benzodiazepines because of the chance of respiratory and/or heart failure.  He not only took two different narcotics but two different benzodiazepines.

[Phillip Dampier]

At the end of the day, we are responsible for weighing the benefits and the risks of the drugs we take, make informed decisions.... and I just can't fathom someone as bright and gifted and knowledgable and intelligent and overall healthy as Heath downing all that crap that was in his system. Even if doctors prescribed them to him on various occasions. Even if he was having problems sleeping and feeling down. I simply honestly can't understand it. I'm not criticizing Heath here, I'm just totally baffled and confounded and very, very sad. What happened was a horrible tragedy. I just cant understand how that could happen.

If he were as stressed and sleep deprived as what some have seemed to speculate, it's not surprising to me that someone under those conditions would not be as clear-thinking about the potential conflicts of prescription medications.  I have a tendency to ask my doctor a lot of questions about the medications I take and try to learn as much about them as I can, but I am out of the ordinary.  Most people make the assumption the doctor is the expert, ask few questions, and in the case of someone who is young, assume that nothing coming out of a pharmacy is likely to actually kill you.  We, not suffering from what Heath apparently was, are in a far better position to understand things he might not, and considering there was no close confidant there living with him, it's probably hard for someone else to notice the potential danger or stop someone from taking such a wide array of medications all at once.

I took a Xanax tablet once just a day or so before my mother died.  Coupled with all of the stress of that, when I added a single Xanax tablet into the mix, I was a complete zombie.  I wouldn't have thought clearly enough to remember taking any medications, much less worry about what effects they might have. 

[Phillip Dampier]

One cannot get a prescription for oxycontin very easily at all. Only a few docs who are pain specialists are able to prescribe it and the presciptions are not able to be filled at the pharmacy. Retail pharmacies do not stock it. The patient needs to go to a hospital to get the pills.

I think this depends on the region of the country, Kaiser.  Up here, any local CVS will fill an Oxycontin prescription no questions asked.  When my mom had to have the methadone, we had to fill that at the hospital, however.

[MaineWriter]

misread my post. Fed law allows only some docs to PRESCRIBE but these docs do not have nor are allowed to distribute oxycontin. And retail pharmacies do not stock it either. If your friend is getting directly from the office doc, very unusual.

I actually asked a doctor colleague this question just 30 minutes ago.

Oxycontin is a schedule II narcotic. Any physician with a DEA number can prescribe it, including residents. Certain physician assistants and nurse practitioners are restricted, depending on their scope of practice and the state in which they practice.

It is also available to be dispensed at retail pharmacies. You do not need to go to a hospital pharmacy.

L