"Six different sedative drugs in Heath Ledger's system show something was amiss."

Ya' think??

These toxicology reports are bogus.

Sure the substance was THERE. IF the report does not show quantities there can be no definate conclusion made as to what killed him.

As for the label ACCIDENTAL how do they know? Did someone ASK him if it was on purpose or not.

This is speculative and not accurate.

"overdose of prescription medications "

YEAH!

Good thing we have that War on the Ambiguous still going on!

He could have eventually progressed further down that dark road and smoked some weed or something (GASP)!

But of course in the World of Bush (the reality TV version of reality), having little jingles like "Just Say No" compensates for the 24/7 barrage of advertments informing us of the magical goodness of "Drugs"!

See, in contrary "conservative" land, you know, home of the free and all that, Drugs are Bad, Drugs are Bad unless you can buy that Drug at a Pharmacy made at a Corporation cause corporations make the Drugs Good like Vitamins.

Just ask Mit Romney!

....ooops....

As for the label ACCIDENTAL how do they know? Did someone ASK him if it was on purpose or not. This is speculative and not accurate."

The report isn't "bogus" -- the Medical Examiner has to make their conclusions based on the best evidence at hand which is what they did.

It was ruled ACCIDENTAL because there was no evidence of foul play, no evidence of a suicide (a note for example), and the drugs taken would not have been lethal if any one or two of them were taken alone in the quantities found.

Based on what we know about the case, it is reasonable to believe that Ledger, unable to sleep and suffering from the flu, took all his various prescribed pills, at the proper dosage but at the same time -- to just knock him out and bring some instant relief to his immediate pain without knowing the lethality of the drug combinations he had taken.

The sad fact is that few people, outside MD's, are schooled in the dangers of drug interactions and if Ledger had gotten his prescriptions from two or three doctors and never fully revealed what he had been prescribed to all three, there would have been no way for any one doctor to have alerted him to the risk of combining those drugs -- even in low doses.

Thousands of people accidentally die each year this way...most I believe are senior citizens who take cocktails of drugs "as prescribed" each day for their various ailments and wind up dead when one doctor doesn't know what another doctor is doing and the patient gets prescribed a lethal combination of drugs.

Ledger's story is a real tragedy -- and given that no illicit drugs were found in his system -- I hope it shuts up all those people I met at Sundance who smugly said Ledger was addicted to heroin, cocaine, crystal-meth, etc. and called him a "garbage head".

YEAH!
...
.....


And your grasp on sanity slips a little more.

Very well said, Bowa.

There's no evidence whatsoever that he intended to harm himself, or even abuse the drugs beyond what they were intended for. Drugs can be a slippery slope in some cases. Ledger was one who slipped, for whatever reasons in his life that we'll never know. That cannot be held against him.

I've read that prescription drugs are responsible for over 100,000 deaths per year in the USA alone.

Marijuana has been used for recreation and medication for over 5,000 years. The current death toll from marijuana use during that 5,000 years?....0!

I hear what redneckville is saying. Guess my sanity must be slipping too.

Ah, balls.

There is nothing accidental about a drug overdose of this type. Does your hand accidentally pick up the bottles of pills? Does it accidentally unscrew the child-proof safety caps? Does it accidentally pour pills into the other hand? Does it accidentally pop the pills into your mouth? It does not.

People make a decision to take medication, and sometimes their decision is backed by poor judgment. Or that judgment is clouded by other medication they took, which is why you really shouldn't take meds when you're alone.

Myself, I like the British phrase, "death by misadventure".

What is that retard Cocosamville going to pretend to be outraged about after Bush is out of office?

Marijuana has been used for recreation and medication for over 5,000 years. The current death toll from marijuana use during that 5,000 years?....0!

I've shot about 1000 four legged critters in my life after four beers. I've shot about 500 four legged critters and one human (by accident of course) after six beers.

After 10 beers I once shot myself.

After twelve beers I have proven I can no longer hold a gun. Most of the time, however that is because I have a beer in each hand. I have been known to try and pull the trigger by foot.

I was on prescription medication for irregular heartbeat back in 2002. I drank some Robitussin and had a beer and wound up in the hospital because I cut myself trying to shave sometime thereafter (I use a straight razor). I punched a disorderly orderly in the emergency Room and all they did was strap me down for an hour or two and give me a psychiatric evaluation.

After college, I never smoked the wacky weed again (I prefer cigars-- bigger kick), however my neighbor does on a regular basis-- he has a regular cloud of smoke over his back porch and even once smoked with Ray Davies of the Kinks. He shoots more 4 legged critters baked than I do drunk. He also has shot himself TWO times to my one. AND he almost killed Ray Davies while stoned-- I've never managed to get even CLOSE to harming a pop culture icon, even in my most inebriated state. AND he went to jail for several days at 22 for climbing out of a ferris wheel while stoned. He fell on a woman and put her in coma for two weeks. I fell into a barbecue pit once, and that was after downing way to much Yukon Jack on a dare-- the only thing I fell on was some half-cooked ribs. I don't buy that Mary-J is totally innocuous. Unless the person happens to be Joe Cocker, it probably hurts others more than it hurts the smoker.

Bwahahahaha. Funny stuff...

You are joking, right?

"He also has shot himself TWO times to my one. AND he almost killed Ray Davies while stoned-"

"AND he went to jail for several days at 22 for climbing out of a ferris wheel while stoned. He fell on a woman and put her in coma for two weeks."

This probably has alot more to do with the guy being a total moron than the effects of marijuana.

"People make a decision to take medication, and sometimes their decision is backed by poor judgment. Or that judgment is clouded by other medication they took, which is why you really shouldn't take meds when you're alone."

Agreed. But that doesn't mean his death was intentional. Poor judgement, or cloudy judgement, can lead to tragic consequences, obviously. But I would maintain Ledger tried to make the best judgements he was capable of, in his state of mind. What he really needed was a thorough detox. But many people who are stressed out are also physiologically toxic. Trying to self-medicate themselves out of their stress, they only compound it.

That's a butt-load of near tragedies you have there beekeeper. But the 'mary-j' DEATH toll, still stands at 0.

I

Unfortunately, MrSOUL, I have personal knowledge of weed-related death. 4 co-eds from Humboldt ran a red-light on I-5 about a year ago and were t-boned by a truck. Driver was stoned, passenger died. It happens. Not as much as alcohol, but it happens. Any drug, be it marijuana, booze, or Oxycotin should never be taken in conjunction with driving. One little slip-up is all it takes.

I'm speaking about dying from the act of smoking marijuana itself...not about the deaths from the stupid things people do while intoxicated. I'm all for a "War on Stupidity", but the War on Drugs is a complete failure as well as a total hypocrisy.

No argument there.

I'm all for a "War on Stupidity"

Mass suicide is not the answer, Mr. Soul.

LOL...maybe not. But it's nice to fantasize about from time to time.

"Based on what we know about the case, it is reasonable to believe that Ledger, unable to sleep and suffering from the flu, took all his various prescribed pills, at the proper dosage but at the same time -- to just knock him out and bring some instant relief to his immediate pain without knowing the lethality of the drug combinations he had taken."

Posted by Bowa


I like the way you try and make him out to be a tea toddiling good guy who ALWAYS follows his medication regiment but I don't buy it.

He, as well as many others, had been abusing these drugs in the past. This time it just caught up with him.

A drug addict is a drug addict no matter if he gets it from a street corner or a pharmacy.

God damn the pusher man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The sad fact is that few people, outside MD's, are schooled in the dangers of drug interactions and if Ledger had gotten his prescriptions from two or three doctors and never fully revealed what he had been prescribed to all three, there would have been no way for any one doctor to have alerted him to the risk of combining those drugs -- even in low doses.



BULLSHIT!!!,

Most major pharmacys have protections in place that send up warnings on perscription problems.

If he were going to "several" different pharmacies for up to 6 different kind of sedative drugs then maybe the world is better off.

Accidental Overdose.

It is what it is..................

Happens every day people.

Just to save face for Ledger, the ME's comment to the media is nothing but a cover-up for the real reason of death. We all know he was a JUNKIE, and it finally caught up with him.
Pity? NOPE...don't think so...

Myself, I like the British phrase, "death by misadventure".

Posted by MaryTylerWhore at 2008-02-06 03:23 PM | Reply |

Take into account this was a 29yr old perfectly healthy guy with everything going for him in life, except his marriage. Who for whatever reason got prescribed 5 different mind-altering drugs.

Most seriously ill mental patients are not on as many drugs.

I really don't buy into this idea that this was a mistake on the part of the medical system. When you end up with this many prescriptions this isn't just doctors not talking to each other, this is the patient being willfully ignorant at best. Heath ledger was not just an inverse pez dispenser.

And further down the article they got a doctor that is all like "WTF ?!?!".... why all these prescriptions ?!?!

Heres what I know... take any given one of those medications, use it as prescribed and you'd be feeling kinda fruity... one can only imagine just how much fruiter you get when you take 4 others along with it, and throw in a downer on top of it.

Two pain meds, two anti-anxiety meds and two sleeping meds? Was he schizophrenic, have a bad doctor or used two doctors?

I like the way you try and make him out to be a tea toddiling good guy who ALWAYS follows his medication regiment but I don't buy it.

Most major pharmacys have protections in place that send up warnings on perscription problems.

2112, as I understand it Ledger's prescriptions were from London and NY. So it is not surprising that a contraindication would not have been caught.

I'm not trying to make Ledger out to be a "tea toddling" good guy -- but based on the Medical Examiners report neither is there proof that he was a "junkie" as he was called on this thread.

Based on the evidence, he suffered an "accidental overdose" ...and that's tragic enough without having to trash the guy even further -- and without the proof to back up your accusations.

If he were going to "several" different pharmacies for up to 6 different kind of sedative drugs then maybe the world is better off.

What an asshole thing to say. We all make mistakes in life -- obviously this young man had some psychological problems, but to suggest that he deserved to die because of them is cruel in the extreme.

accidental would imply he had two to four pills that interacted badly with one another...

this reminds me of people who fall on knives twelve or seven times and they report that they accidentally stabbed themselves to death.

Nance-
You are a quite clever ghoul.

Is it raw fish or a wounded rabbit that you are fed as reward (Or perhaps just the flesh of recently dead)?

Yea...I've been told "pot is innocent" since my teens.

I've seen time and again how pot doesn't really kill your body, it just kills your life.

Sure, recreational use is probably fine. However, most of the pot smokers I've known slowly work their way up from casual to daily usage. And many don't move on to harder drugs. Pot is all they use but it manages to fuck up their life and destroy their potential.

Also, their minds go kooky. Their personalities are dulled. And there's nothing worse than a pothead who gets all spirtual and in tune with the universe. And they get this incredible insight, they think. Sorry folks. I've seen a lot of potheads that get stupid.

Ever get high, have a great idea and write it down only to read it the next day and realize it's not the great idea you thought it was?

It seems Heath Ledger may have done like some people and started abusing mind altering drugs which screwed up his ability to realise the danger and then took more until he died. It may well have been accidental. I would like to see some doctors be held accountable for providing all this crap to him.

Back to the pot. I am tired of pot heads defending their habit.

Some drugs screw up your life quickly, but others (such as pot) ruin your life much slower.

"Back to the pot. I am tired of pot heads defending their habit"

It's not about defending the use of pot. It's being intelligent enough to realize that prohibition is not working. Warehousing users, addicts, and small-time pot dealers in prisons, while paroling violent criminals and pedophiles after 3 to 5 years...isn't the solution!!

All the evidence proves that marijuana is less dangerous than the drugs that killed Heath Ledger...which are dealt by the legal drug pushers everyday in the media, as well as being less dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes. To believe differently requires a total disregard of the facts.

There is an outside chance he might have lived had the masseuse called 911 immediately instead of calling around asking what to do for 20 minutes.

There's an even better chance he'd be alive if he didn't mix medications in the first place.

This does sort of touch on a MINOR pet peeve of mine.

If a doctor's going to prescribe new medications, he should damned well collect the remaining old medications, rather than have them lie around in a drug-stupefied patient's home. It should be a legal requirement before the new meds can be given out.

But hey, where would children get vicadin if mindless twits didn't hoard half-empty bottles of everything they have ever been prescribed?

As for this 'accident', you either have to be very stoned, VERY stupid, or just WANT TO DIE to take a variety of pills like that. You don't have to be a doctor to know you don't mix downers unless you want to die.

There are probably people on alt.suicide.holiday RIGHT NOW wishing they had access to the sort of quack doctor that would throw a variety of powerful drugs like this at them. Who needs a pusher when the doctor will be so accommodating?

I pride myself on my recreational drug use.
This guy was a dummy and he got what he asked for.
I am sure that the drugs are the problem.

Good riddance. Can we stop talking about this loser now?

DOn't drive angry, don't drive angry..

Americans are overdrugged. You get drug for every little inconvenience. STOP TAKING ANY PILLs UNLESS ITS AN EMERGENCY.

One woman who lived to be 114 was interviewed, and she said she never took the drugs/pills that the doctors gave her --- and survived that long. ...said she likes vinegar.

For myself, altogether I take about 6-10 pills for colds and about 4-6 pills for headaches in a year. A total of 16 pills a year. That's it.

And I'm fine, thank you.

Reality is for people who can't handle drugs.