Letters to the Editor
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Ridiculous
To blame pharma and doctors for Heath Ledger's death is journalistic malpractice by Dr. Zaroff. Heath Ledger exposed himself to the risk of overdose by taking six high-powered drugs of which any combination was dangerous, if not lethal. While I mourn the loss of a great, young talent, I can't help but a feel a bit calloused to the idea that he was the victim. If anyone is a victim, it is his young daughter and loving parents. The perpetrator was not the media, doctors, or the system, but Heath, himself.
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Over-Drugged America
Isn't it astonishing that this country has been able to function as long as we have, without all of the neat, designer drugs now available to all of us?
It boggles the mind how America won World War Two, sent men to the moon, and aided in the dawn of the information age without all of the pills we now have. Have trouble sleeping? No problem, here's a pill. Can't get an erection? No problem, here's a pill. Too much mucous buildup during cold and flu season? No problem, here's a pill. Going bald? Yep, we've got one for that too.
I'm incredibly disturbed by the amount of drug advertisements being jammed down our throats in the media. Watch prime time television on any network- every other commercial will be about a new miracle drug to "ask your doctor" about.
This nation has turned into a country of neurotic hypochondriacs who see every little thing as symptom of a terrible disease that needs a medication. The ridiculous lengths the drug companies are going to in order to invent ailments that their drugs will cure baffles the mind - "Restless Legs Syndrome", anyone? You can't make this stuff up.
The rush for profits causes the glut of drugs being forced upon us by the media. The rush for profits also puts pressure on the FDA to rapidly approve drugs whose full affects are not known, leading to preventable side effects and deaths. And the population's dearth of knowledge about drugs, and desperate desire for "symptom" relief, only adds another dangerous element to the toxic mess.
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It's impossible that Heath Ledger committed suicide
Suicide? Impossible. Ledger had money, power, fame, sex appeal, and lots of sex. And people envied him. That's everything human wants and needs; he should have been perfectly happy.
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Is it possible
that Heath Ledger was a drug addict AND that prescription meds, sleeping aids, antidepressants, younameit are prescribed carelessly and with little oversight in this country? The two aren't mutually exclusive. I hadn't known that he didn't have a prescription bottle for OxyContin, only had it in his system. I'm pretty sure that stuff is only for terminal cancer patients, not for bad backs or insomnia. Healthy people aren't supposed to take it, but I have read that Winona Rider took oxycodone, the generic form, and so did Jack Osborne and Courtney Love. They get it somewhere, probably black market. Kerrrazzzeee. Gotta take your medication everyday, be a good dog, live life in a wonderful way. Tell me why you wanna be blind--(Everclear, normal like you)
I liked the rule the Canadian mentioned. If a doctor can't get your med/pharm history, you get no opiates or the like. As it is now, people go into ERs (not people like HL natch) and bully and insult a doctor or threaten to go elsewhere to get meds if he doesn't come across. Take the matter out of his hands.
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Addiction Isn't the Point
Obsessing over whether Ledger was addicted or not misses the point. Our society is totally sold on using medications to solve problems, but lacks the … maturity? Education? Intelligence? …to use them properly. Over 60,000 people in the U.S. overdose on acetaminophen (the active agent of Tylenol) each year, and more than half of those overdoses are accidental. People assume that it is “safe” because it is readily available and don't follow the dosage on the label.
The utter lack of working knowledge on the pharmacological effects of even the most common of household drugs is far beyond the understanding of most people. Drug actions are not only affected by other medications, they are affected by you weight, age, gender, what you ate, which vitamins you take… everything! Most drugs also do not have a simple 1:1 effect on the body. As their possible toxicity increases, many drugs offer a diminishing return on their beneficial effects.
As for addiction to prescribed medications, most people, including the theoretical businesswoman described in the article, are oblivious to their addiction. Far too many people assume that addicts aren’t attempting to medicate a problem, or are unable to function in any sort of normal way. Our image of addiction comes directly from overwrought network min-series, and most can’t even conceive of being addicted themselves.
Behaving as though someone earned their early death because of an addiction, or as though people are going to miraculously begin using drugs appropriately because we’ve told them to smarten up is incredibly negligent.
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More, quicker, better
information here.
How to avoid this kind of problem yourself
http://www.docgurley.com/2008/02/06/eight-practical-tips-on-how-to-prevent-a-death-like-heaths/
What really happened - from a couple of days after he died
http://www.docgurley.com/2008/01/25/was-heath-ledger-snoring-or-was-it-something-worse/
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Drugs, drugs, drugs!
Well, there is nothing that can really be done about addicts now can there? An addict is going to subvert the system whenever they can to get access to the drugs they want. Whether by using other's prescriptions, buying them online, finding pill happy doctors or just going to their friendly neigborhood dealer.
As for people who aren't addicts, well it's rather simple. Follow the directions. Don't guess at what you think is safe to take, follow directions. Read the drug skin that comes with the pills. It's not difficult. If you are on many medications, keep a list of them that you take with you to the doctors office. Use one chain pharmacy for all of your medications. Don't keep one med at the grocery store, one at WalMart, one at CVS or Walgreens or Rite Aid, just use one chain. One that is convienint for you to use on a regular basis.
As for the database, I'm not against it as there are children and senile people who can't keep track of everthing they are on and there may be times they are admitted to a hospital without their knowledgeable guardian around.
I would hate it though if people got so complacent with the database that they stop keeping track of what they are taking and stopped asking the pharmacist, doctor questions or just deciding eh, read directions? Nah
I do agree with one thing though, allowing pharmaceutical companies to advertise their drugs was the worst thing that happened. I also agree that marijuana has been demonized and classified as illegal because there is no profit to be made off of it because it's a weed that can be grown very easily in a large variety of environments.
I did do research once and found that big pharm and Budweiser's parent company are the largest donors to the anti-drug campaigns in the government. So you can not like MJ, that's fine, but many people have found that the simple drug can help with digestive problems, sleep problems and other issues and you can't die from it other than perhaps getting lung cancer. Which you can avoid by cooking the plant into butter.