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Celebrity Drug Overdose-Who’s Really Responsible?

By Stacy Barnes | March 23, 2011

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe overdosed on Pentabarbital, aka Nembutal and Chloral hydrate (sleeping pills).  She was found dead at the age of 36 in her Los Angeles home. While her “barbituate poisoning” was deemed a possible suicide, many still speculate that it was an accidental overdose.

On February 8, 2007, the controversial TV personality and model, Anna Nicole Smith, was found dead in a Florida hotel. Contributing to her overdose were eleven drugs that included Klonopin, Ativan, Serax, and Valium, all of which had been prescribed to her by her doctor.

The list of celebrity overdoses on prescription drugs only continues to grow, each year without fail adding another name to its list. Heath Ledger died while on his prescribed cocktail of Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Diazepam, Alprazolam, Temazepam, Vicodin, Xanax, Restoril and Unisom. Michael Jackson on his that included Valium, Lorazepam, and Midazolam, plus the painkiller Lidocane, topped off with Propofol.

When looking at the amount of drugs these celebrities are taking at once, it almost seems blatantly obvious to anyone that a mixture of that many pills can be lethal.  So maybe the celebrity is to blame for the overdose, they should clearly know that juggling so many prescriptions at the same time could possibly be fatal.  But what if that person is struggling with an addiction to the pain pills? What about the doctor who is prescribing the medication? What if they trust that a doctor wouldn’t prescribe them such medications if it weren’t safe? Shouldn’t he be held accountable?

The official cause of death of Elvis Presley at 42 was cardiac arrhythmia, but it is believed that prescription drugs contributed to his heart condition. Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, Presley’s doctor, explained the singer’s open attitude toward prescription drugs: “He felt that by getting pills from a doctor, he wasn’t the common everyday junkie getting something off the street.”

Why would Elvis’s doctor continue to prescribe him medication knowing such information? Eminem, who had his own struggle with substance abuse treatment, gave one possible answer. In an interview for Vibe magazine he spoke out against irresponsible doctors, stating that celebrity doctors “want to stay on a celebrities radar”.  Money, money, money.

While it does take two to tango, and the patient is the one who in the end makes the decision to take the drugs, there is a reason that we go to doctors for our medication.  They are qualified in the medical field. And because they are qualified, we trust them to know what’s safe for us and when to stop prescribing or increasing our amount of medications if it could prove to be potentially dangerous, or fatal.  We trust them to monitor our medication intake so that we won’t become addicted and land ourselves in a drug rehab center. They are the doctors after all, the experts in good health.

Simply put, there really should be closer monitoring of what doctors are prescribing. While a doctor and patient may be equally to blame in the case of accidental overdose, very rarely is a doctor, who might have prescribed irresponsibly, held accountable, which doesn’t quite make sense.

Celebrities are not immune to the same addictions we as every day people face. An addiction, no matter who you are in the world, is still an addiction and it needs to be treated. If you find you are struggling with an addiction to prescription painkillers and need to get help, whether it is in a support group or through drug rehab, please do so as soon as possible.

Topics: Addiction, Drug Rehab Center, Substance Abuse | Comments Off

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