FUCK THE POLICE
911 EVERY DAY
http://salon.com/entertainment/movi...9/12/23/brittany_murphy_could_have_been_saved
Did doctor shopping kill Brittany Murphy?
The star may have had a lethal collection of legal drugs from many sources, all of whom were powerless to stop her
By Rahul K. Parikh, M.D.
There was a time when a celebrity's sudden death almost invariably meant illegal drugs, a secret stash of heroin (Janis Joplin), a fatal speedball (John Belushi). More recently, stars' poison of choice is the legal and prescribed kind: Health Ledger OD'd on cold medicine; Anna Nicole Smith took sleep aids; Michael Jackson pumped himself full of anesthetics. And so it seems with Brittany Murphy, the bubbly and bright actress who died of cardiac arrest at 32.
The coroner's notes allegedly claim a pharmacopia in Murphy's bathroom cabinet: Topamax (for seizures or migraines), methylprednisolone (a steroid), fluoxetine (an antidepressant), Klonopin (for anxiety), carbamazepine (for seizures or bipolar disorder), Ativan (for anxiety), Vicoprofen (pain reliever), propranolol (for hypertension, migraines or anxiety), Biaxin (an antibiotic), and hydrocodone (a narcotic pain reliever). Gone are the days of shameful crack pipes and empty gin bottles. "No alcohol containers, paraphernalia or illegal drugs were discovered," the report stated. If only that could help.
Murphy's medications, like those of Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith, are on the shelves of your local drugstore, available with a simple trip to the doctor -- or doctors -- whom you merely need to convince that you need the stuff. Did one doctor prescribe her those meds? Did 10? We don't yet know. But as a doctor myself, I just kept wondering (and not for the first time): What if doctors were more like librarians? Would Brittany Murphy still be alive?
Let me explain. If you go to your local library and can't find a book in the stacks, a librarian consults a computer that tells you all you need to know: If the library carries that book, when the book is due back, whether its overdue or lost. If they don't carry the book, they can tell you which branches do. And -- if you're like me, perpetually returning books late -- your local librarian can, with a hint of scorn in their voice, deny you further checkouts until you return that book and cough up your fee. In short, libraries are technologically integrated; gone are the labyrinthine card catalogs in favor of streamlined digital records. Same for banks. Same for airlines.
Did doctor shopping kill Brittany Murphy?
The star may have had a lethal collection of legal drugs from many sources, all of whom were powerless to stop her
By Rahul K. Parikh, M.D.
There was a time when a celebrity's sudden death almost invariably meant illegal drugs, a secret stash of heroin (Janis Joplin), a fatal speedball (John Belushi). More recently, stars' poison of choice is the legal and prescribed kind: Health Ledger OD'd on cold medicine; Anna Nicole Smith took sleep aids; Michael Jackson pumped himself full of anesthetics. And so it seems with Brittany Murphy, the bubbly and bright actress who died of cardiac arrest at 32.
The coroner's notes allegedly claim a pharmacopia in Murphy's bathroom cabinet: Topamax (for seizures or migraines), methylprednisolone (a steroid), fluoxetine (an antidepressant), Klonopin (for anxiety), carbamazepine (for seizures or bipolar disorder), Ativan (for anxiety), Vicoprofen (pain reliever), propranolol (for hypertension, migraines or anxiety), Biaxin (an antibiotic), and hydrocodone (a narcotic pain reliever). Gone are the days of shameful crack pipes and empty gin bottles. "No alcohol containers, paraphernalia or illegal drugs were discovered," the report stated. If only that could help.
Murphy's medications, like those of Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith, are on the shelves of your local drugstore, available with a simple trip to the doctor -- or doctors -- whom you merely need to convince that you need the stuff. Did one doctor prescribe her those meds? Did 10? We don't yet know. But as a doctor myself, I just kept wondering (and not for the first time): What if doctors were more like librarians? Would Brittany Murphy still be alive?
Let me explain. If you go to your local library and can't find a book in the stacks, a librarian consults a computer that tells you all you need to know: If the library carries that book, when the book is due back, whether its overdue or lost. If they don't carry the book, they can tell you which branches do. And -- if you're like me, perpetually returning books late -- your local librarian can, with a hint of scorn in their voice, deny you further checkouts until you return that book and cough up your fee. In short, libraries are technologically integrated; gone are the labyrinthine card catalogs in favor of streamlined digital records. Same for banks. Same for airlines.
