As aggravated as I was after the death of Heath Ledger, I must admit that there was an interesting situation with his tox report. Yes, doctors from the New York Medical Examiners office came out yesterday and said that Heath passed away from an acute overdose of oxycodone (oxycontin), hydrocodone (percocet), diazepam (valium), temazepam (anti-anxiety), and alprazolam (xanax), and doxylamine. Essentially let’s spell this out for you guys that might not understand the pharmaceutical jargon.
He was found face down on his bed. He took enough medication that his brain didn’t tell his lungs to take in air. Along with that, there was also the fact that the friction between him and his pillow, he was done for. The doctors that gave him those medications, should be ashamed of themselves. It wasn’t about drug abuse folks. It was that he was sick, had a respiratory infection, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t relax, and was in an enormous amount of pain. I guess relaxation after making it as big as he was, didn’t really come into play. Who knows, what do I know. Maybe it was an addiction that he was battling, but I find that hard to believe. Apparently, Michelle Williams (of Dawson’s Creek fame) has told their daughter that Daddy went away.
My heart hurts for her. My heart hurts for the knowledge that little girl won’t have a father due to the ignorance of doctors that won’t pay enough attention to know not to diagnose all of those drugs together. *ugh* We don’t know. As patients we have blind allegiance to making sure that we take what the doctor says and do it at a certain time to make sure that we know. ALWAYS ASK IF DRUGS SHOULD BE COMBINED!!!!! The DEA is investigating the death. Apparently it’s fairly routine. I’ll be interested in finding out what they find.
It’s sad.
A place for the crutches to fly... 