Deadly Combo?

I enjoyed the movies Heath Ledger performed in and send my condolences to his family and those who knew him personally. I appreciate the need and/or desire to use his death to educate our society about potential dangers of polypharmaceutical use/abuse. If my memory serves me correctly, there continues to be speculation and comments regarding Elvis Presley???s Marilyn Monroe???s death. Past the notification and cause of Heath Ledger???s death, how does all this ???help??? society? There becomes a point when all of this becomes a gross intrusion to those directly impacted by his death and creates additional psychological trauma for his family and friends. God???s speed, Heath and if I could provide a gift to his family and friends it would be a gift to grieve privately without additional trauma from our society.

I feel terrible about what happened to him, I was a huge fan. I wonder if they checked the rolled up $20 bill for pill substances not just cocaine. If you inhale the types of medications he was prescribed that could've killed him also. After what happened to Anna Nicole and her son, why are these doctors continuing to prescribe the harsh, addictive pills to celebrities and others? When I think they should try therapy over addictive drugs that have been linked to so many tragic and unpredictable deaths.

So far, a lot of these comments are way too cynical. Why do people feel the need to judge someone they don't even know. We should all mourn the loss of a talented man, no matter his shortcomings, if he even has any. Heath Ledger made our lives richer through his movies. We may not have know the real man behind the big screen, but he was a man, human as any of us. He will not only be missed by his family and friends, but by the world, just as each of us will be missed when our day to leave this earth comes.

Im a nurse...and trust me, Ive had many patients on multiple antianxiety meds and ambien, that were prescribed by one physician. Add to that the blood pressure lower meds and the pain meds that were also prescribed (I work on a post op floor). ...I get very uncomfortable giving all these meds together. But some patients can tolerate and enormous amount they take. The stuff these physicians got thier patients on is mind blowing. Im surprised they can function at all.

the opiate that is mentioned may be present in some prescription cough medicines, he did have pnuemonia and he may have had the opiate in his system along with the anxiety and sleeping pills. all bad combinations and he was seen snoring in bed by his housekeeper a few hours before he was found dead on the floor.

It is possible that a combination of drugs, and possibly sleep apnea could have caused Heath to stop breathing....Has anyone, including the ME checked for sleep apnea, which would cause him to suddenly stop breathing, or cause an interruption in his breathing. w/ the comination of drugs, it could have been what caused his untimely death .A sign of sleep apnea is heavy snooring (the housekeeper claimed he was snooring heavily, and was face down when she checked on him.

The poor man was suffering and sought relief and typically of drive through medicine is that you get one then two and three etc of the "regular drugs" given for SYMPTOMS. At some point symptom treatment can kill a person if they overdose on the drugs; but, the ISSUE HERE IS that Heath didn't seem to be getting supportive therapy or in-depth therapy to help him deal with his pain of sorrow, loss, and fear. I take Heath's side in this, he went to doctors asking for help and they did what they always do. It isn't really wrong, but it isn't enough. In this culture we all know how to get drugs, and count calories or sugar content, but we generally do not know of good people to help us. The HELPING PROFESSIONS are locked down in budget crunches and only reach out to the crisis bunch and high priority populations, like children or familes in crisis with small kids. To get treatment for depression is enormously costly, but to get an abused child into safety is pretty much already the budgetted treatment....no one really does PRIVATE CONFIDENTIAL ETHICAL ECONOMICAL THERAPY. Yes, Heath may have had enough money to go to a famous psychoanalyst, but for ACTION BASED THERAPY he had pills to look to. That's pretty lonely. Who can a famous person trust? I mean, give me a break Dr. P__L, that melodramatic controlling sort of TV therapy is giving people the wrong idea. The government used to focus on emotional problems but now only if you are suicidal can you get treatment. THE STIGMA of emotional and psychiatric illnesses are so horrid that people fear to be FOUND OUT AS EMOTIONALLY IN NEED. I blame the cold cheap superficial narcissistic culture more than Heath or the "robo-doctors".... Who is praying for help to be handy? To others?

The Party is over, terrible shame, Mary-Kate where are you.
Why would someone change a lightbulb while someone sleeps?
There is more to this picture than meets the eye.

As far as a former heroin addict recovering by using some of these drugs as treatment, many people don't realize that quitting these any variety of these drugs/medications cold turkey could result in serious injury. Because I used to be on diazepam, I have to gradually come down off of it to avoid having further interference with GABA transfer in my body that could lead to major anxiety attacks or, potentially, death. Reserve further speculation until the tox screens come back.

The poor man was suffering and sought relief and typically of drive through medicine is that you get one then two and three etc of the "regular drugs" given for SYMPTOMS. At some point symptom treatment can kill a person if they overdose on the drugs; but, the ISSUE HERE IS that Heath didn't seem to be getting supportive therapy or in-depth therapy to help him deal with his pain of sorrow, loss, and fear. I take Heath's side in this, he went to doctors asking for help and they did what they always do. It isn't really wrong, but it isn't enough. In this culture we all know how to get drugs, and count calories or sugar content, but we generally do not know of good people to help us. The HELPING PROFESSIONS are locked down in budget crunches and only reach out to the crisis bunch and high priority populations, like children or familes in crisis with small kids. To get treatment for depression is enormously costly, but to get an abused child into safety is pretty much already the budgetted treatment....no one really does PRIVATE CONFIDENTIAL ETHICAL ECONOMICAL THERAPY. Yes, Heath may have had enough money to go to a famous psychoanalyst, but for ACTION BASED THERAPY he had pills to look to. That's pretty lonely. Who can a famous person trust? I mean, give me a break Dr. P__L, that melodramatic controlling sort of TV therapy is giving people the wrong idea. The government used to focus on emotional problems but now only if you are suicidal can you get treatment. THE STIGMA of emotional and psychiatric illnesses are so horrid that people fear to be FOUND OUT AS EMOTIONALLY IN NEED. I blame the cold cheap superficial narcissistic culture more than Heath or the "robo-doctors".... Who is praying for help to be handy? To others?

yeah, I heard about that Mary Kate Olsen news too, but suddenly it disappeared...guess it was on msnbc site.

The poor man was suffering and sought relief and typically of drive through medicine is that you get one then two and three etc of the "regular drugs" given for SYMPTOMS. At some point symptom treatment can kill a person if they overdose on the drugs; but, the ISSUE HERE IS that Heath didn't seem to be getting supportive therapy or in-depth therapy to help him deal with his pain of sorrow, loss, and fear. I take Heath's side in this, he went to doctors asking for help and they did what they always do. It isn't really wrong, but it isn't enough. In this culture we all know how to get drugs, and count calories or sugar content, but we generally do not know of good people to help us. The HELPING PROFESSIONS are locked down in budget crunches and only reach out to the crisis bunch and high priority populations, like children or familes in crisis with small kids. To get treatment for depression is enormously costly, but to get an abused child into safety is pretty much already the budgetted treatment....no one really does PRIVATE CONFIDENTIAL ETHICAL ECONOMICAL THERAPY. Yes, Heath may have had enough money to go to a famous psychoanalyst, but for ACTION BASED THERAPY he had pills to look to. That's pretty lonely. Who can a famous person trust? I mean, give me a break Dr. P__L, that melodramatic controlling sort of TV therapy is giving people the wrong idea. The government used to focus on emotional problems but now only if you are suicidal can you get treatment. THE STIGMA of emotional and psychiatric illnesses are so horrid that people fear to be FOUND OUT AS EMOTIONALLY IN NEED. I blame the cold cheap superficial narcissistic culture more than Heath or the "robo-doctors".... Who is praying for help to be handy? To others?

It amazes me how quick the church is to condemn a man for playing the part of a gay man, yet even quicker to pay off families to cover up what goes on within there own ranks. I feel sorry for the church on judgement day !