Heath Ledger dead at 28

It does have the unfortunate echo of James Dean and I don't think the parallels are exaggerated.

Ruled accidental. Two kinds of painkillers, two anti-anxiety meds, two kinds of sleeping pills.

From Entertainment Weekly:

HEATH LEDGER
Ledger Died of Accidental Overdose
A medical examiner says that toxicology reports indicate that the actor died of an accidental overdose on prescription drugs

By Mike Bruno

The New York City medical examiner reported on Wednesday (Feb. 6) that actor Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, according to multiple reports. In a statement, the examiner said he died ''as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine.'' Those are the generic names for drugs often marketed as brand name painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin, the anti-anxiety medications Valium and Xanax, the sleep aid Restoril, and the sedating antihistimine sleep aid Unisom. There was no explanation for why the death was determined ''accidental.''

Ledger's housekeeper, along with a massage therapist, discovered his body lying face down in his Manhattan apartment on Jan. 22. Law enforcement officials said several different kinds of prescription pills were found at the scene, including pills to treat insomnia and anxiety, and an antihistamine. Police said no illegal drugs were found.

Police announced on Jan. 23, a day after the actor's body was discovered, that an initial autopsy proved inconclusive.

Ledger earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in 2005's Brokeback Mountain. He most recently played one of several incarnations of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, and he will appear in the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight. The actor was working on Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, which also features Christopher Plummer, when he died last month.

End of article.

That's a deadly combination of drugs -- I'm surprised it wasn't found that he rolled over in his sleep face down in the pillow and suffocated. I think they will be investigating the doctor who prescribed the drugs.

It is possible he got those from two different doctors.

Face down , in a sleeping position?
I could see him suffocating in a pillow on that many drugs.

I, at one time , had a doctor who gave me a painkiller, a sleep aide and a narcotic muscle relaxer just to treat a hip problem.
Even taking them all as prescribed I could not even drive for 2 weeks I was so out of it.
I was falling all over the place, vomiting, confused.. My husband often said that I sounded as though I was drunk when I was talking.

It happens that doctors over prescribe drugs .

Absolutely correct and I still don't believe a GP should hand out anti-depressants like they were after dinner mints. I'm sure it will come out if there were two different doctors and two different pharmacies.

You're debilitating side effects could be due to the muscle relaxant. I've never been able to take those even without taking any other drug for the same reason, and I have a high tolerance and have never taken any prescription drug that affected by driving adversely except the muscle relaxants.

Sigh. What a waste of a promising young life.

If only ..... if only he (& others caught up in such frantic circumstances) had just take some time out, to get back onto an even keel.

I had a strong feeling this was the cause, and the Today Show news this morning verified my thought that they were going to investigate how he obtained such a lethal combination of drugs. The bottles they showed were, I believe, photos of a group of what looked like typical labels from a legitimate drug store and not the actual bottles found in the room. They did not verify that any of them were street bought, although that is possible they were resold by a patient. I would think they'd release that news promptly if the prescriptions were from different doctors and were labeled as written to Heath Ledger. Looking at the combination, I believe there are doctors our there who would prescribe those drugs to one patient. I'm just curious what possible reason Ledger would need Oxycontin, which if a physician knew the patient has a past use of drugs and alcohol. It's extremely addicting. It's not unusual for a patient telling a doctor they are recovering from alcoholism and drug use to get mood elevators in combination with Xanax.

BTW, I think the newscasters are abusing their journalistic integrity by showing mock-up or samples of drug bottles which were not the actual bottles found in the room without pointing it out. It's caveat emptor to "swallow" what TV newscasters throw out there these days. Haven't checked the bloggers and online amateur news sites yet.

Drug cocktail killed Heath Ledger: US officials
Mr Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," the New York chief medical examiner's office said in a statement.

Ledger's father Kim, said he hoped the official toxicology results would end rumours surrounding his son's death and appealed for privacy.
"While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy," he said, adding "we respectfully request the worldwide media allow us time to grieve privately."

Three of the six prescription drugs found in Ledger's apartment had been filled in Europe.
Doctors not connected with the case said it would be unlikely for one doctor to prescribe all the drugs, as several of them were from the same class of drugs and used to treat similar symptoms. However, they said it was not unusual for people to be prescribed both painkillers and sedatives, and overdoses were not uncommon.


Full artical
The AGE Melbourne 8/2/08

One could overdose on just the prescription painkillers if they lose track of time because of the effect. The FBI is now involved in the investigation of where how he obtained the drugs. Interesting that he obtained three of them in Europe -- that explains a lot. I'm waiting to see exactly why such powerful pain killers were prescribed in the first place. It can't be for recovering from pneumonia. Most of these pain killers should not be taken with an anti-depressents because of the harmful synergy.

Of course, this may not stop the insensitive heads that don't understand why and how people can lose control using alcohol or drugs when it begins with recreational use. It's an illness that has claimed millions of lives.

I thought he said privacy. I'm sure I heard that word somewhere.

I stand by my original pronouncement. F@cking idiot.

That's just your opinion, Wilso, declared without knowing anything about the person involved, bar media reporting.

It won't be the last time that the nastiness of the National Enquirer and the lot leak out in the prejudice of those in the public who haven't a shred of humanity left in their bones.