"Accidental Overdose" or murder by ineptitude?

[Magrus]

Not that I care at all for media and famous people. Normally I wouldn't give a damn to be brutally honest. However, given the cause of death, I do feel a bit of personal interest in this. Two sources here, granted, nothing I would take incredibly seriously, they are both entertainment based. However, I have to wonder about this.

Pathologist: Meds Killed Daniel Smith | Anna Nicole Smith : People.com
Daniel Smith Death Probe Continues - Oct 10, 2006 - E! Online News

[QUOTE=http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,26334,1540184,00.html]The death of Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son Daniel was caused by a lethal combination of methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro, pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht has revealed to PEOPLE.
<snip>

"In my opinion it's an accidental death," Wecht tells PEOPLE. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,20199,00.html] Dr. Cyril Wecht, a private pathologist hired by the TrimSpa spokesmodel to determine the cause of her son's death, released his toxicology findings last month, claiming Daniel's death was caused by a lethal combination of methadone and the antidepressants Lexapro and Zoloft.

According to the Associated Press, Daniel possessed a prescription for the Lexapro, but his family reportedly did not know from whom or how he had gotten the other drugs. [/QUOTE]

Now, umm. Having been on Zoloft, I can pretty safely say that there is no reason for someone to bother taking it as a party drug. Xanax, yes, people grind up and snort that to get high. Riddlin is used as an "upper". I'm sure people use some other meds used on psych patients. However, I have yet to hear of someone popping Zoloft as a party drug. This guy was someone who had a great deal of wealth through his mother. If he wanted to get high, I am pretty sure he could have gotten his hands on something else.

The methadone tossed in there makes me wonder whether or not he got himself into some mess that was kept secret. That perhaps he saw doctors in secret for a drug problem that was kept from the press. Given that I was in a situation where I was dealing with a top doctor in this area who was stunned at what was prescribed to me and blurted out "I cannot believe you have stayed conscious with the prescriptions you've been taking. This would put a bull into a coma, you should be dead." years ago, I am incredibly curious as to knowing whether or not this now deceased person was prescribed this mix of pills.

American doctors are prescribing pills left and right to anyone who says they have a problem. Often times, they do not research the effects of these drugs against the patients backgrounds. Nor do they cross check whether the drugs may interact in a negative manner with other medications the patient has been on. I generally avoid mass media and celebrity news, along with most all news coming from this country. However, this caught my eye on a journal relating psychiatry news I check up on once in a while. It is easy to write this off as "rich kid OD's", but what if he was poisoned by some ignorant doctor like I was? What if that doctor committed murder by being a pawn for the FDA run drug companies? I'm curious what other people think of this.

[VonDondu]

The methadone tossed in there makes me wonder whether or not he got himself into some mess that was kept secret. That perhaps he saw doctors in secret for a drug problem that was kept from the press. Given that I was in a situation where I was dealing with a top doctor in this area who was stunned at what was prescribed to me and blurted out "I cannot believe you have stayed conscious with the prescriptions you've been taking. This would put a bull into a coma, you should be dead." years ago, I am incredibly curious as to knowing whether or not this now deceased person was prescribed this mix of pills.

Since medical records are usually kept confidential, I doubt you'll ever get definitive answers to your questions. But for what it's worth, it's possible that Daniel altered the dosages of his medication on his own, and he could have gotten any of those drugs (illegally) without a prescription. Also, just because he was taking methadone, that doesn't necessarily mean that he was ever treated for a more serious addiction (such as heroin). One of my friends (whose word should be taken with a grain of salt because she's not an authority on the subject) says that some people like to use methadone as a "recreational" drug and that Anna Nicole Smith is a methadone addict. In the end, who knows what drugs people are taking, with or without a prescription. I don't like pill-pushing doctors, but you can't always blame the doctors for what people take.

[BlueSky]

Since medical records are usually kept confidential, I doubt you'll ever get definitive answers to your questions. But for what it's worth, it's possible that Daniel altered the dosages of his medication on his own, and he could have gotten any of those drugs (illegally) without a prescription. Also, just because he was taking methadone, that doesn't necessarily mean that he was ever treated for a more serious addiction (such as heroin). One of my friends (whose word should be taken with a grain of salt because she's not an authority on the subject) says that some people like to use methadone as a "recreational" drug and that Anna Nicole Smith is a methadone addict. In the end, who knows what drugs people are taking, with or without a prescription. I don't like pill-pushing doctors, but you can't always blame the doctors for what people take.

Years ago got in my grandfathers car and discovered a shoe box with a huge assortment of pills of all kinds in containers and out....when questioned he mentioned that when he got together with his peers, playing checkers or whatever..they would sit around and trade their script drugs...oh I take this for that, you ought to try it...
No wonder some of his peers always seemed loopy to me!! :laugh:
Self medication for the elders....a roulette game:speech:

[LordAce]

Well the fact that he had methadone in his system doesn't necessarily mean he was a recovering heroin addict. I know lots of people that use methadone.

[beornica]

Whew, that's quite a cocktail! I've heard Methadone called "Legal Heroine", since they're ahh... basically the same. My father got that garbage prescribed to him for his vietnam injuries, but he refuses to take it because he's also on so much other junk he shudders to think how it would react together.
It's a subject I must sit on the fence on, since you COULD blame the doctors, and you COULD also blame Daniel. It's much too convenient that his momma is a druggy and he had all sorts of pills at his disposal to get stoned with... but who knows. Maybe he DID have a heroin problem and his doctor was just a numbscull. Many are. It's very sad and disorienting. It's most likely imo that he was already on the other two as prescriptions and then just decided to try Anna nicole's Methadone for a high.
The frustrating thing about media interest in celebs is that you really NEVER know the details, so no matter how it looks.... you just have to remain objective. I find that difficult. Grocery store check out lines are my greatest weakness... :laugh:

[Demortis]

One of my friends (whose word should be taken with a grain of salt because she's not an authority on the subject) says that some people like to use methadone as a "recreational" drug and that Anna Nicole Smith is a methadone addict.

Well, this is a guess, and a bad one at that, but from info gathered, he could have been addicted to Meth for along time. If mom was addicted while she was pregnant with him, then after birth he might have had cravings for something that he couldnt figure out till he got his hands on. But, like I said, its a guess, and a bad one at that.

[LordAce]

Methadone is not "legal heroine", it's used to get heroin addicts off of heroin.