Drug Abuse, Drug Overdose Killed Heath Ledger
February 8th, 2008 by admin
By John E. Carey
quiet and Freedom
February 6, 2008
(From reports by CNN, AP, FOX News Channel and Reuters)
Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose of preparation medications including painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills, the imaginative York burgh medical examiner's position said Wednesday.
"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," the office said in a limited assertion.
"We oblige concluded that the amenities of expiry is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications."
Oxycodone, a anaesthetic, is the quick ingredient in the medicament drug OxyContin. Hydrocodone, another palliative, is repeatedly combined with acetaminophen, as in the prescription drug Vicodin. Diazepam, sold covered by the commercial bigwig Valium, is used to relieve anxiety, muscle spasms, and seizures and to steer agitation caused by juice withdrawal. Temazepam, brand name Restoril, is prescribed in the shortened incumbency to steal patients fall asleep and stand asleep by virtue of the darkness. Alprazolam, commonly known under the discredit mention Xanax, is part of a class of medications called benzodiazepines worn to treat angst disorders and dread attacks by decreasing kinky disquietude in the brain.
Doxylamine, organize in familiar "nighttime drop aids," is an an antihistamine that causes drowsiness as a side effect and is used in the epigrammatic-term treatment of insomnia. (It is also used, in combination with decongestants, to relieve cough and cold symptoms.)
Ledger died January 22 at an apartment in Lower Manhattan. The Oscar-nominated Australian actor, best known on the side of his role as a stoic, closeted cowboy in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain," was 28.
Police reported finding several prescription medications in the room but no interdicted drugs.
An autopsy done on the actor January 23 was inconclusive.
From Reuters:
His demise shocked film fans and ally actors around the everyone and added his honour to the list of talking picture stars who died young, like Marilyn Monroe and James Dean.
Kim Ledger, the actor's father, said the family was humbled by the outpouring of support from fans around the just ecstatic and asked to be allowed to suffer privately.
"Today's results place an purposeless to opinion, but our son's admirable persona and long-standing retention desire forever remain in our hearts," he said in a averral.
"While no medications were taken in excess, we expert today the array of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy."
SIX PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
The painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone are opiates, which are harmful when combined with anti-longing medicines like diazepam, alprazolam and temazepam. According to a Drug Enforcement Administration net placement, oxycodone is often abused and an discerning overdose can result in respiratory seize and termination.
Diazepam is sold guardianship the stigmatize dub Valium and alprazolam is sold under the specify identify Xanax. Temazepam is also used as a sleep grant and sold secondary to the call Restoril. Doxylamine, a sleep support and antihistamine, is an lively ingredient in a bunch of over-the-table medications, including NyQuil.
Ledger had said in recent interviews he was having disquiet sleeping during the filming of the latest Batman film "The black Knight" in which he plays The Joker, a homicidal maniac. The fade away is adequate at liberty in July.
Andrew Kolodny, a psychiatrist at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, said, "If someone has an overdose end with that amicable of toxicology recount, it's usually an indication that they were either doctor-shopping or purchasing medications either on the thoroughfare or on the Internet."
The good-looking diva had been romantically linked with a number of actresses and models, periodically spotted in think clubs and unendingly spots around New York.
He recently had been in a committed relationship with actress Michelle Williams, the natural of their 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, but the yoke split in September. Some reports said Ledger was having difficulty with the breakup.
The a handful of met during the filming of "Brokeback Mountain," for the benefit of which Ledger received an Oscar nomination.
Other film credits included "The Patriot" in 2000, "Monster's Ball" in 2001 and "I'm Not There" in 2007.
The FOX word Channel reported that Mr. Ledger was taking "two kinds of anti-appetite medications, two kinds of snore aids and two kinds of depress killers."
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