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A Celebrity Dies Tragically From Prescription Drugs

Anna Nicole Smith's death was the result of a lethal combination of prescription drugs.

There is no evidence that this was an intentional overdose; rather, it was the result of improperly monitored use of drugs she was legally prescribed or purchased over the counter.

Most of the drugs were anti-anxiety agents or used to help one sleep, indicating that she may have had severe problems with anxiety or insomnia.

What may have tipped the scales, according to coroners, was chloral hydrate, a sleep drug that has been out-of-use for so long that medical examiners don't routinely screen for it during autopsies. It was prescribed to her by "a friend" and psychiatrist after her son Daniel died last fall.

Access Hollywood March 26, 2007

ABC News March 26, 2007

Sun-Sentinel.com March 27, 2006


Dr. Mercola's Comment:

Among drugs Smith was taking at or near the time of her death:

  • Three prescription drugs for anxiety and depression: Valium, Atavan and Clonazepam.
  • The unfortunately popular Tamiflu.
  • Topamax, a drug used to control migraines, seizures and weight gain (at the time of her death Smith was a spokesperson for the weight loss product TrimSpa).
  • Human growth hormone, a drug rumored to be a huge problem in professional sports.

Like the tragic story of the little girl I ran an article about not long ago, too many "friends" were all too willing to throw ridiculous amounts of drugs at Smith in hopes of keeping her body and spirit alive. In both cases, no one in a position to make a difference was willing to say "No."

Instead, it was yet another example of a conventional paradigm far too prone to prescribe toxic drugs and needless procedures. Conventional medicine is full of useless cures and treatments -- many of which line the pockets of the multi-national drug companies -- that eventually cause more harm than they're worth.

The result, in this case, was one more tragic and easily preventable death.

Please remember that you can be a beacon of light and truth when it comes to health. If you have been reading this newsletter for awhile you probably are aware of more "inside" information about how the health care system works than most of the people you know.

When you see them struggling gently encourage them to consider alternatives. You can use many of the studies that we run to support this position, as nearly all of them are hyperlinked to the original research. It is not just my comments that are supporting this approach, but the hard work of legions of dedicated researchers who are investing their lives to discern the truth.

So let's step up the effort to inform friends and relatives to avoid tragedies like the one that happened to Anna Nicole Smith. Remember, for every celebrity like her that is affected there are thousands more that are affected every day but are never highlighted by the media.

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Comment on This Article Community Comments (16)
 
 
Posted On Mar 27, 2007
While any preventable death is tragic.  This one would not have made the news except for Anna's semi-celebrity status.  I think it is a shame that as a country we pay more attention to who is dating whom, than to what is being done by our government.

Mary

 
mmc88121
Moderator User Moderator User, Joined On 11/2006
mmc88121  
Replied

Russ Bianchi
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 9/2006
Russ Bianchi  
 
Posted On Mar 27, 2007
The spin of the media, and PR influence over disseminated information, in an era of wacko celebrity worship, is partially how Big Pharma is able to get away with deceptive and crooked sound bites, twisting deadly brands, into somehow perceived necessary purchases.

The solution?  Do not watch TV, and do not purchase any drug, if at all possible.


helpingheart
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2006
helpingheart  
 
Posted On Mar 28, 2007
The Lying Media pays more attention to the famous, than to what our gov is doing.  It is all a huge distraction, so people don't know what is Really Going On.

Thinkers like many Mercola Newsletter Readers pay attention to what is really going on, and don't use their TV for REAL info, we get it from the net.

 
 
 
Posted On Mar 27, 2007
Good things: It is going to bring some awareness to the overuse of RX meds and mixing meds without care into the medical community and society.

Bad things: It is sad that we have to have a death in order to focus on things such as this. Things such as this should never happen. the other sad thing is that she is just an example of what most Americans are taking and have no idea how it is and going to affect them. I am sure each day someone dies from the somewhat same scenario, but you never see that on TV.

 
Josh Rubin
Moderator User Moderator User, Joined On 6/2006
Josh Rubin  
Replied

minnie-me
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 2/2007
minnie-me  
 
Posted On Mar 27, 2007

That's exactly what went through my head when I listened to the news,Josh. These unmonitored and dangerous,  Rx drugs kill people everyday, yet we never hear about the average Tom or Joe because they aren't in the public eye.These kinds of stories have been swept under the rug for too long. I was never a big Anna Nicole fan, but I am now. Hopefully, she will go from pinup girl to poster child for what these legal, albeit toxic, drugs are doing to us!
BigPharma and the mainstream medical establishment are constantly lurking in the shadows waiting for some schmuck using alternative treatments, to slip up. 
We are using transdermal chelation to pull mercury, aluminum and about 10 other toxic metals from my grandson's vaccine injured body.  It's working, and it's working big time!!! He is one of tens of thousands who are chelating using various protocols. You probably remember the tragic case of the 5 year old boy who died while receiving an edta IV push.The media was all over this. While the autism community  was mourning his death, BigPharma and chelation opponents were gloating! This was an unfortunate error on the Practitioner's part. Tariq was given Disodium EDTA when he should have been given Calcium Disodium EDTA...a fatal error. To us, this one child will always be remembered, not as an "expected casualty", but as a little boy who died as the result of human error.  Will  the millions of people who die at the hands of Merck, GKS and Eli Lily ever get this same respect? Never! And as long as they can sweep the numbers under the rug, they will keep on killing unsuspecting people putting the blame anywhere but within the realms of their own industry. Not THIS time! Never a fan before, I applaud Anna's ultimate contribution to the world. In a strange twist of fate, she is more than just a legacy to the Hollywood jet set. She is a human being who died at the hands of a ruthless drug cartel!


karrus
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 6/2006
karrus  
 
Posted On Mar 28, 2007
The news networks won't do any much more on airing the hazards of those drugs Anna was taking. Pharma won't let them. The very same day that they came out with her autopsy report, CNN is doing a special on human growth hormones and vitamins, soon to be airing. Pharma is going to make sure that more spin is going to be on human growth hormone, and their dangers, than any other lethal drug that she was taking.


dr mikie
Novice User Novice User Joined On 4/2007
dr mikie  
 
Posted On Apr 10, 2007
From what I've read according to the coroners report it wasn't the med's that killed her.  she penetrated a cyst while giving herself a Vit. B shot that put a load of pus directly into her blood stream.  Massive septicemia.was the cause of death, the drugs just masked the real problem.
I thinks thats the facts are correct and before everybody jumps on Mercola's band wagon do some research on your own.


KathieJamisonCote
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 4/2007
KathieJamisonCote  
 
Posted On Apr 11, 2007
Dr Mikie - with every respect, I appreciate your imput about the septicemia, but did you ever consider the source of your info?

Sounds like BigPharma needs an alibi and with CNN and many (all)other media sources influenced by the BIg $$$ signs, credibility's a joke.

And just so you know, people who are on MERCOLA'S BANDWAGON are going to be making huge changes in the medical community over the next few years thanks to many doctors - Mercola, McDougall, Lipski, Graham, Trader, Furman, the list goes on and is growing every day - HEALTH (not DRUG) practitioners around the country and around the globe, as well as Healthy Consultants, people who live health and know that the benefits of eating to live, are sharing that info with others and having tremendous results.

 It may take a while, but little by little we will get the word out that NATURAL AND ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF HEALING AND PREVENTING are the answer. 

With the practices of Big Pharma, I don't believe you will ever find them protected or lauded in this community.  So Respectfully, you should find a different bandwagon cause this one is obviously not the one for you...........


Chiromama
Novice User Novice User Joined On 4/2007
Chiromama  
 
Posted On Apr 15, 2007
I seriously doubt this will bring any more awareness to prescription drug addiction and its dealers. Too many other diversions...Sanjaya's much more important!
Our country is so sadly preoccupied with escape in all its forms...overeating, drugs, online poker, and the mastermind of all escapism, TV.
We are inundated with so much information, some is  good and very useful. Unfortunately,  we ignore the info that can empower us to "just say no" and devour that which makes us sheep.


 
 
 
Posted On Apr 10, 2007
Fox news reported last Weds or Thurs that her Dr. was under investigation.  It was reported that there were 300 Rx's written to her, filled, and in her possession at the time of her death.  That is terrible!  Who is this Doctor?!?!?!?  How can he do that?!?!?  And they worry about people who like to use natural means to treat themself!   

 
armorherbs
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 2/2007
armorherbs  
 
 
 
Posted On Mar 28, 2007
This is more common than we can imagine.  My sister-in-laws' mother just died last week in a very similar manner.  She was on a lot of prescription medication:  forgot she had already taken her pain medication, accidentally took it again.  By the time her husband came home from work, she had died.  Too tragic! 
Anita

 
fellowservantinchrist
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 6/2006
fellowservantinchrist  
Replied

BethAngeles
Novice User Novice User Joined On 4/2007
BethAngeles  
 
Posted On Apr 09, 2007
 Having had a pain management Doctor for many years, I believe that if she wasn't a celebrity, no one would have prescribed the medication she was on.  Real people rarely get prescriptions like that written for them. 

Any Doctor who is in psychology or pain management is monitored closely by the FDA.  If I asked for any medication that wasn't appropriate, I'd be questioned why, and probably denied.  I had to sign a form with my Doctor when I first started seeing him saying that I would only get pain management medication from him, and I needed to give him the names of any other doctors I was working with.  He takes his profession seriously and would lose his job if he didn't. 

My experience is that doctors that do this are few and far between. 


Alisa_203
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 3/2007
Alisa_203  
 
Posted On Apr 10, 2007
Reality Check!

Doctors regularly overprescribe to their patients.  Doctors get all kinds of kickbacks from the Big Pharma Companies.  Doctors are just guessing at what medication might help, and keep changing the prescription until they get a "hit", and the patient "feels better" temporarily.

Articles pointing to this greedy practice:

http://www.theagitator.com/archives/021157.php

http://www.psychmedaware.org/Overprescribing%2520of%2520Benzodiazepines.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/50441/the_over_doping_of_america_are_doctors.html

http://www.worstpills.org/public/page.cfm?op_id=3

http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=6272315

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070401-9999-1m1pills.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/032807dnnatdrugdeath.36533e7.html

There are MORE article like this!  It Just Keeps Going!

Sorry, but this overprescribing is Normal Practice for a majority of doctors.

 
 
 
Posted On Mar 29, 2007

 

Can I just say that I think that every death matters and unless the woman was known on a personal level no one has the right to call her ‘Dumb’.  It had only been a few weeks since the strange death of her son, the birth of her child, and problems with who was the biological father. 

Celebrities have a lot to put up with from the media and the public. I feel so sorry for them having to wall themselves in for fear of their lives. Worrying about being kidnapped, stalkers, being robbed or worse. Never knowing if you’re loved for yourself or your money. Are you being followed by the media or some crazed gunman (Remember John Lennon)
 

My mother was prescribed (by her doctor) a well-known painkiller for five years, for headaches caused by the steroids that she was given for Temple Arteritis. The Arteritis was gone but she died due to ‘something’ destroying her insides. They tested her for everything two days before she died and could find nothing to blame except her colon (never caused her any problem before) and she was a smoker. When I suggested that it was the 8 pills a day that had rotted her insides, I was laughed at.


 
cretan-herbs
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 3/2007
cretan-herbs  
 
 
 
 
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