Doctors Under Investigation In Heath Ledger’s Death
Two doctors are being investigated in the death of actor Heath Ledger. Federal drug authorities are looking into the drugs prescribed, because Heath’s death was blamed on an accidental mixture of prescriptions:
The doctors - one in California, one in Texas - are believed to have supplied the “Brokeback Mountain” star with the powerful painkillers Oxycontin and Vicodin, law enforcement sources said. Authorities want to know if the drugs were prescribed illegally. “It’s an ongoing investigation,” a law enforcement source told The News Tuesday. “It’s not clear if there was any wrongdoing.”
The revelation came more than a month after the 28-year-old Australian heartthrob’s naked body was found in his SoHo loft.
The city’s medical examiner ruled Ledger died on Jan. 22 of an accidental overdose of six prescription drugs, including the two painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has subpoenaed the medical examiner’s findings as part of its probe into the doctors, the sources said.
Do they always have to say he was found naked? Like that in and of itself is some sort of crime or weirdness. Lots of people sleep naked.
It may or may not be that these doctors are guilty of any wrongdoing. However, it is only prudent of physicians to check what prescription or OTC medications a patient is already taking, and writing new prescriptions accordingly or advising patients on the safety of taking one medication with another. Heath may or may not have told his doctors of any other medications he was taking. It may come out that he purposefully obtained the prescriptions without the doctors knowing of each other. Or, it might be as simple as he just didn’t realize the dangers of taking one with the other.
Heath had fought a long battle with drug use, but by all accounts he was trying to get clean when he died, and illegal drugs played no part in his death. He also suffered from severe insomnia, which led him to take a prescription sleep aid that turned out to be not much help to him. Plus, at the time of his death, he was suffering from pneumonia, which undoubtedly weakened his immune system.
Always check with your doctor before mixing any sorts of medications, and make sure you know what you’re taking and what it does to your body.
UPDATE:Â These two doctors have been cleared:
Federal officials have ruled out two L.A. and Houston-based doctors as the providers of the OxyContin and Vicodin that played a part in the accidental overdose of Heath Ledger, reports the New York Post.
After questioning the docs, the Drug Enforcement Agency found they had prescribed the Brokeback Mountain star other medications, just not the heart-stopping drugs that resulted in the 28-year-old death in NYC on January 22.
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I don’t mean to knock Heath or his memory, BUT…
as a patient it is also a person’s responsibility to inform their doctors of any other medications, prescribed or OTC that are being taken.
When a person becomes addicted to painkillers, some will see various different doctors (aka “doctor hopping”) to try to get better/stronger or more prescription meds.
For this reason, 24 states now have what are called PDMP’s (Prescription Drug Monitoring Program). The high rate of prescription drug abuse led state legislatures and the medical community to create a database of patients who have been prescribed controlled substances.
HOWEVER, there does not exist, to my knowledge, any sort of National PDMP database, and according to the US Health and Human Services website, only 6 states have established agreements to release information to other states.
So, theoretically a person could go to different states, see a doctor and receive a prescription for the types of medications that had been prescribed to Heath Ledger.
It would seem fairly easy for someone with his financial resources to easily go from California to Texas and other places to obtain his medication if he felt that he might be flagged as an “abuser” under California’s or Texas’ PDMP.
According to the US Health and Human Services website, “All States receiving Rogers PDMP funding are encouraged to exchange data. Collaboration is an important aspect of these activities, and grantees must develop a team of law enforcement and health care professionals and collaborate with other public and private agencies and organizations.”
Whether they do or not is an entirely different matter.
Comment by crazymom — February 29, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
I agree with you crazymom. We need in general to always be an advocate for our own health. Heath’s death was terrible and tragic, but utterly preventable.
Comment by D — February 29, 2008 @ 10:38 pm
*sigh* What a shame that he died so young when there’s technology out there that could prevent such medication mistakes from happening. Crazymom is correct that as patients, we need to advocate for ourselves and be honest with our doctors about the stuff we’re already taking. I’m small and I insist on telling my doctors what my medication tolerance is for fear of overdosing. It’s a shame most people don’t do what I do. R.I.P Heath Ledger. I have a mad crush on you as Ennis Del Mar.
Comment by Brokeback Fangirl — March 2, 2008 @ 9:23 pm