Mrs. Dud wrote:
> As I watch the coverage of Heath Ledger as well as the parallel of
> Anna Nichol Smith I have to wonder how many people die each year
> from dangerous drug interactions between various medications?
>
People people people, jeez. He ain't even cold yet, and I've certainly
not heard an official cause of death (not that I'm looking, but
apparently this qualifies as front page news for some reason, so I
couldn't avoid hearing if I tried). Most of the alleged drugs found at
the scene so far are high-powered meds, and at least four of them are
high powered enough to be controlled substances in the US. Throwing
back a handful of any single one of said alleged meds would be enough to
do him (or anyone) in. If I may engage in my own speculation, my bet is
that it's yet another simple drug overdose, and not any "dangerous
interaction" other than "too large an amount of too many powerful drugs
that all do the same thing in the bloodstream at one time."
Sure, it could be a real drug interaction. In which case, the bottles
(in the US anyway) are going to scream something to that effect, and the
alleged doctor who prescribed those SIX alleged meds covering ONE
alleged problem will of course have made sure none of them would
interact before prescribing them.
But for all any of us know... I of course can't complete that sentence
because none of us knows much of anything about the case.
> After all the drug deaths are nothing new.
You'd certainly be forgiven for believing that they were, given the
press they get when it's a recognizable name that's OD'ed, and the
complete non-coverage otherwise.
> Depedning on who
> you want to believe Vyioxx has killed 27,000 to 55,000.
>
Maybe, maybe not, but you can bet good money that few will care unless
it's an obscure actor or a washed-up model that dies.
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