Heath's Family Responds To His Official Cause Of Death
Filed under: Australiastic > Heath Ledger
Statement from Kim Ledger on behalf of the Ledger family issued following the release of the Medical Examiner's findings:
We remain humble as parents and a family, among millions of people worldwide who may have suffered the tragic loss of a child. Few can understand the hollow, wrenching, and enduring agony parents silently suffer when a child predeceases them. Today's results put an end to speculation, but our son's beautiful spirit and enduring memory will forever remain in our hearts.
While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage.
Our family enjoyed an extremely happy two week visit with Heath just prior to the New Year. Those recent precious days will stay with us forever. We as a family feel privileged to have some of his amazing magic moments captured in film. To most of the world Heath was an actor of immeasurable talent and promise. To those who knew him personally, Heath was a consummate artist whose passions also included photography, music, chess and directing. We knew Heath as a loving father, as our devoted son, and as a loyal and generous brother and friend.
We treasure our beautiful granddaughter Matilda (to our dear Michelle) as well as an unbelievably wonderful network of close friends, forever, around the world. Families rarely experience the uplifting, warm and massive outpouring of grief and support as have we, from every corner of the planet. This has deeply and profoundly touched our hearts and lives. We are eternally grateful.
At this moment we respectfully request the worldwide media allow us time to grieve privately, without the intrusions associated with press and photography.
[Image via WENN.]
Its so sad to know that someone can be hurting so bad like this. He should have reached out..
Hopefully we can now stop talking about it.. and allow his family to grieve privately.
Ive learnt that Fame and Fortune obviously dont buy happiness!
"#60 - jenn says
whatever - he's a shitty actor and deserved to die"
What a horrible thing to say. You must be so proud of your trailer-park upbringing.
I'm sure your father would be too, if you knew who he was.
It is both accidental and not accidental. Sure, it doesn't take a genius to figure you can't mix all these deadly, but legal drugs - but tell that to an addict. He just wanted to get high. They are hooked. My big sister (a prescription pill addict) recently died of this same shit (with the help of super deadly methadone) - and it is out of control. Why is nothing being done to both the pharmaceutical companies AND the doctors who prescribe?!?! How many deaths will it take to be taken seriously? They can talk shit about the illegal drugs like cocaine or heroin (oxy, vicodin and methadone are heroin's cousins), but prescription drugs are overlooked as KILLERS. Why? Probably cause it make the pharmaceutical drug dealers big money. It's really a sad comment about the world we live in.
Rest in peace Heath. I just hope everyone will finally let this go. I never believed he was a drug addict, i just think he didnt realise what he was doing. You can call me naive but thats what i believe. I will only ever have fond memories of him and not all the disrespectful stuff that the media has been throwing out the past 2 weeks.
Re: Kate –
Kate, thank your very educational response. As an addiction counselor, we see this problem daily. It is certainly not the fault of the doctors, drug companies or pharmacies when a patient is not honest. Drug addicts and abusers come up with many ways to fool the system. Heath Ledger's death is a heart-breaking tragedy, but hopefully will serve as a wake up call to addicts who mix these deadly cocktails.
Brings tears to my eyes for them to have such poise during this horrible time for them. I turly hope Heath can now rest in peace. God Bless his family, friends, and his beautiful little girl.
Re: Amber – actually, i AM very well versed…you should not be on all those meds. at the same time–EVER. i don't care if you are seeing elephants…your doc sounds irresponsible or you are addict of some kind…get second opinion from another doctor…
Rest in peace Heath.
We will be fascinated by this for but a moment and his family will be changed by this forever. My thoughts and prayers are with them.
That is the biggest coverup. The family definitely made an arrangement with someone to cover it up. Heath was obviously abusing some substance…look at photos over the past year. Also, if this is true, the family would be taking action toward a MAJOR lawsuit to the prescribing physician for reasons of negligence, etc. You people are complete idiots for believing everything you read. fucking robots. I just hope you don't vote.
My thoughts are with the Ledger family. Until you have experienced a situation like this you have no right to critize. I lost both of my parents to the same thing 2 1/2 yrs ago. Instead of attacking the people taking the medication something should be done about the money hungry doctors perscribing the deadly doses.
My god, some of you people are such fucking assholes! Rx drugs CAN be addictive, but there is not evidence that he abused them or was in fact addicted. He was stressed out, sick and couldn't sleep. Over the course of several days, he took too many pills to help him with these issues and they built up in his system. Another dose proved fatal.
Just leave him the fuck alone. It's a sad, tragic accident and Heath wasn't a bad person because of it. Christ, why must people always assume the worst? Jerks.
What a group of delusional people. Their son did drugs. He did too many. He died. This had nothing to do with doctors prescribing drugs since no doctor would prescribe that many drugs at once. It sounds as if they are trying to push their own guilt aside because no one predicted this when they saw him at Christmas.
His family loved him. But if I was a family member, I'd be asking myself why I wasn't there for him when he needed me most. He was obviously trying to numb a whole lot of emotions and definitely had some demons he was facing. But then again, he was a talented actor. Perhaps that is why his family thinks he was perfect. Perhaps he felt like he had to "act" the part with his family. Maybe they never really knew him at all and now they are over-compensating.
Like every human, Heath was flawed. We all are. But in the end, I hope he found the peace he sought. Perhaps in death he will find the peace he could not find in life.
(I think I am empathizing a bit too much.)
#86 Kate- you are right. I work in a surgeon's office and
patients get incedibly strong drugs and get hooked very easily.
And when they go to three or four different doctors and just as
many pharmacies to get their scripts filled, it can be almost impossible to
track them. It's sad, but it's like being addicted to sex or eating or
anything else. Poor Heath.
Can't they at least be honest…even if just for themselves and the millions of young people dabbling in drugs…HE DIED BECAUSE HE TOOK TOO MANY DRUGS…They may have been "prescribed" but any drug addict knows that you can get drugs prescribed to you that you don't need. He died because he took drugs. Period. Not the way they were prescribed. That's called DRUG ABUSE.
As a former drug abuser, I know what I'm talking about…and I know alot of Heath Ledgers. They're not rich and famous…but they're drug addicts…Some are dead, some survived, some are still out there. This is the ultimate sugar coating.
valium is a killer, especially…even mixing alcohol with this can sometimes lead to death.
It's pretty sad however many of our young people, including celebrities, abuse prescription medication Perez.
It's not an accident when you gulp down a cocktail of drugs.
It's a potent and deadly mix. If he got all of that medication from one doctor, then that person should have warned him about mixing it all.
Many are so focused on having "it all" out here that perhaps instead of getting material things, we truly need to focus on the things that can make us happy (family, friend, etc.)
i hope media leave them alone for a sec. They need it, belive me they do.
Michelle and Matilda your in my thoughs!
I think the fact that it is an accidental death makes it all the more heartbreaking. HE WASN'T MEANT TO DIE YET! He had so much talent and intuition about how he created his roles/characters. Anyone who can do this like he did is in my mind beautiful because he/she is obviously very sensitive to be able to feel these things. Love you Heath, my most sincere wishes for his family, including Michelle and Matilda.
someone should investigate that little Olsen troll!!! I smell something fishy and I ain't taking about her hygiene!!!!!!
junkie
What an extraordiary display of class, graciousness, humbleness. This family is JUST amazingly loving and openhearted. IN-TANDEM EMOTION from the throws of dispair and anguish YET buoyed by the love and well-wishes from across the globe.
Yes. Please leave this graceful family be and allow them to bury their son.
Re: LA
The sad thing is LA this happens beyond addicts, everyday people do the same thing. They go to CVS, they go to WalMart, they go to Target with different prescriptions. We pharmacists don't talk to each other. We don't have a drug prescription network. The biggest problem I have is patients thinking if they take a herbal supplement or medicine its natural and won't hurt them. Herbal is just as powerful as a prescription drug and can interfer with your meds. It really pays to be committed to your health and have a good relationship with one doctor and one pharmacist. If you aren't honest with what you are taking I can not do my job properly and make sure you are not combining these things. Even a pharmacist would look at these kind of drug prescriptions and know off the bat, they should have not prescribed or taken together. Having a good doctor and a good pharmacist on your health care team helps you in the long run. I have customers who bring in their herbals just to make sure will this interfere with my meds. This is smart and they are taking charge of their health.
adAADSAD - fact is if Heath was as exhausted and down as reports have said, there is every chance that to get the little respite that he craved he didn't look into the ins and outs of what pills can and can't be taken together - not everyone sits and reads everything when their mind is alert, never mind when they are so exhausted all they can think of is sleep, an exhausted mind is not one that takes in details.
Heath's dad has paid a lovely tribute to him and I do hope that the worlds press respect their wishes and allow them to say good bye to their son/brother in private.
Sleep easy Heath.
I miss you Heath RIP. I'm sorry for his loved ones.
Now that is class. Heath was very lucky to have such a wonderful family…as they were lucky to have him.
Rest in Peace!
it said he died from a combo of perscription drugs, but no one has indicated wherether HE had perscriptions for all these drugs…i bet he didn't…he go the oxicotin off the streets, probably from somone who does have a perscription…
I'm sorry I know this is a tragic loss, but where is the common sense. I'm not a doctor or a nurse, but there is no way I am going to take all those medications in the same 24 hrs, or even 48 hrs. It just wouldn't seem safe to miss that many drugs, without consulting a physican first and even if they were perscribed, I am sure not by the same person. I'm sorry to say, with a little common sense this could have been avoided. sad sad sad
Just looked it up, oxycodone and hydrocodone are both extremely addictive and are the drugs of choice as a REPLACEMENT for HEROIN addicts. Does that answer everyone's questions? I guess he thought if he stopped taking heroin and switched to these, he was safe and he could keep on seeing his kid.
I don't understand why Heath Ledger's family can't come to terms with the fact that he was a druggie.
It may not be an easy thing to think about, but it's patently obvious to any observer.
Re: jenn –
Whoever you are, you are a pathetic excuse of a human being. How can you ever say someone deserved to die? What would you think if someone said that about one of your family members? You obviously are a complete heartless idiot.
I'm from Europe. It's always unbelievable for me how easily psychotropic drugs seem to be prescribed in the US.
Not every psychological problems needs to be treated by chemistry. One has to go through suffering to grow strong.
Im glad you went on accident Heath to all those people who said they would loose respect for you if you killed yourself on purpose. I always belived it was by accident and I'll always respect you RIP brotha.And to people in Austrailia the second most wonderful country in the world I give ya mad props.
i agree with #103. but besides that, awe his poor family
his memory will live on inside of every fan of his work
THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[re=1458142]Re: ?[MANY diseases.Doesnt matter what mine is. Ever lived in constant pain? ever tried killing yourself just so you can finally be free of it?.I have.Pain,anxiety,depression…go hand in hand.Find me a person who has true chronic pain who isn't depressed…that person would be in denial.Find me a person in chronic pain who has no sleeping probs.Don't judge what you don't live. Taken PROPERLY..these drugs save lives every single day,.
#115 Delusional says–
" delusional says – reply to this
"What a group of delusional people. Their son did drugs. He did too many. He died. This had nothing to do with doctors prescribing drugs since no doctor would prescribe that many drugs at once. It sounds as if they are trying to push their own guilt aside because no one predicted this when they saw him at Christmas.
His family loved him. But if I was a family member, I'd be asking myself why I wasn't there for him when he needed me most."
And then you call yourself empathetic? Honey you have a lot to learn about empathy…
My grandfather committed suicide twenty years ago. He was taking Halcion for pain and
hung himself. We later learned how addictive and dangerous Halcion was. He would not allow us to go to any doctor appointments with him, wouldn't tell us what meds he was on, and didn't want any help or pity. You can't even begin to IMAGINE the guilt my family and I live with every day.
I can't even imagine what the Ledgers and Michelle and Jake and all his friends are feeling right now, but I know a hell of a lot more than you. Please don't speak
about things that you don't understand.
Even weeks later its hard to accept his death.
But those who accused him taking cocaine and other illegal drugs,and wanted to drag his name through the mud should be ashamed of themselves.
Rebecca White who bad mouthed Heath to Inside Edition.Shows like Entertainment Tonight and The Insider,US magazine,The New York Post who tried to invent some type of conspiracy theory, who these days make deals in backrooms with siblings,relatives and former lovers to get the dirt on celebs.Instead of focusing on real entertainment stories they would rather follow around poor souls that are obviously suffering some mental breakdown.
I praise The New York Daily News Krissy Mac,Joel McHale of the E channels The Soup,
Scarlett Johannson,Natalie Portman,Josh Brolin,Sarah Jessica Parker,Mathew Broderick,
Mel Gibson,Sean Penn,Jake Gyllenhaal,Naomi Campbell,Mike Myers and Access Hollywood who stood up against the aforementioned media and called and wrote to them to cease with there degrading coverage.
[B]R.I.P HEATH[/B]
I am sad for the family. It is a tradgeic unexprected loss. But lets not forget that just because your drug of choice is legal or a prescription, doesnt mean you aren't an addicted, junkie or just as bad as Whitney on crack. So if you get some quack to write you a bunch of RXs that makes it ok? Your a high class junkie? No such thing unfortunately. Did he really need two different pain meds, two different anti anxiety meds, two different sleeping meds. Absolutely not. He didn't need any of them. Mind over matter. Learn how to deal with your fame, get some help. Drowning yourself is drugs is unacceptable.
This family is in denial. "Doctor-prescribed"? No doctor will give you multiple narcotic prescriptions unless he was doctor shopping or received the drugs illegally. He died of "acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine". This was intentional.
I am sure his family and friends all feel terribly guilty. He was obviously abusing scrip drugs (and maybe others). He had no reason to take Oxycontin (i.e. no recent accident, etc), and this is one of THE most commonly abused scrip drugs. But even if you KNOW someone is abusing, it is very very difficult to intervene. Yes, they should have tried harder, and I am sure they are all feeling that now. AND the people who used, abused and pushed him like an animal probably WON'T feel guilt, and should. But addicts are HARD TO REACH. I know, I have had them as friends and family. In almost every case, they nearly hit rock bottom (including almost dying) before finally going into rehab.
Perez, thanks for reporting this, but please let it stop now. Unless there is news about his role in an upcoming movie, let this family be. No matter how his death happened, it is just incredibly sad. Can we all really sit back and judge what drugs he may or may not have used?? Can anyone admit to being perfect? If there was a video camera following me 24/7 through my youth, trust me, I'd be in a lot of trouble. Who cares that 2 years ago he did cocaine??? He admidtly was having trouble sleeping. Insomonia can be a debilitating issue. Maybe he just kept taking drugs to finally get some rest. Whatever the reason, a child is left without a father, a family is left without a beloved son. Let them have some peace. Please, please, please!!
# 84. Then what does abuse mean?????
So sad but it feels good to have a closer. My thought are with his family. I trully hope that they can find a way to move on without sadness but with happinesh of the years they got to spend with Heath. ( even if it is hard) I believe that Matilda will grow into a wonderfull girl . Once again my thoughts are with you and i wish you nothing but the best*love*
The months leading up to Heaths death, he was extreamly sleep deprived. He was sick with pneumonia. He took many prescription drugs to help, but he admitted they were not working well, and over the course of a couple months, he took doses of each and the drugs built up in his system. It doesn't seem like he was a druggie to me, it just seems like he needed some rest! His death was ruled ACCIDENTAL. If you hadn't sleep for months, taking many pills wouldn't seem like a bad idea! As I've said in other posts, I don't believe speculating about his death is right- we all were not there and therefore cannot have proper opinions about it! The facts that we have are he was sick and tired, and he accidentally overdosed. The end. His family is suffering the worst sort of pain, yet people will still talk shit about him being a druggie to make themselves feel better, even after the results come in. Get over it. Let his family have thier own opinion of their son and his death, its their right as parents. Heaths family wrote some very beautiful tributes about their son and may they find peace in the thought that their son was deeply loved by many and that their pain is shared throughout the entire world. Rest In Peace.
such class and grace.
Re: Verodemort –
Beautifully said. Thank you. Amen and RIP Heath
I feel bad for the family. I wish Heath had gotten some help sooner so that he could still be here to see his beautiful daughter grow. As a mother of a little girl the same age as Matilda, this is what really breaks my heart.
Damn shame,but due to taking a combination of drugs he:s died in is sleep its obvious that the pressure of fame and a fall out with his mrs has compacted on him in this way,but its getting all too common these days and he reminds me of "hutch" michael that is ,push some one to far and look what happens.rest in peace.
HE WAS A FUCKIN JUNKIE PEOPLE… GET OVER IT! HE DID IT TO HIMSELF… AND NOW HIS BABY HAS TO DEAL WITH IT FOR HER ENTIRE LIFE! THANKS DADDY!!! WHY THE FUCK DOES EVERYONE WANNA CELEBRATE WHAT AN AMAZING GUY HE WAS, AND GO ON AND ON WITH THE "OOOOHHHH POOR HEATH" BULLSHIT???!!! FUCK THAT!!! IT'S UNFORTUNATE, AND SAD ON MANY LEVELS, BUT THE ONLY PERSON WHO COULD'VE PREVENTED IT WAS HEATH.
Re: Junkie –
How can you possibly know if he was a junkie? No one knows except him and God at this point. Let him rest in peace and stop all the needless speculation.
i would like to know the names of the doctor's who wrote the prescriptions, i have heard three of the prescriptions were written by european doctors ,, these types of drugs are considered minor tranquillizers with few side effects, i would imagine that's why doctors are free and easy with the prescriptions, also anyone viewing those lunsta commercials knows how much drug companies like to entice in order to increase their profits, all the drugs he took probably made his breathing more difficult coupled with the so called pneumonia he was suffering from
Re: Verodemort – At last !!! Someone who say something that sounds right !
Heath Ledger said himself in interviews that he couldn't sleep. I don't know if any of you know what it is to be sleep deprived, but try to go for a week with only 2hrs of sleep and you'll have a LITTLE idea of what it is ! There goes the reason for the sleeping pills, he said they didn't work for him so he must of tried many.
He was sick with pneumonia, there's the reason for the Hydrocodone, it's an antitussive or a cough suppressant if you will.
And, has he said, while talking about his role for The Joker…“I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted and my mind was still going.” Sounds like stress and anxiety… there goes the reason for the anti-anxiety pills.
If he didn't sleep much i guess he was desperate for some rest.
Re: whaterver –
Thanks for reminding us all that hydrocodoine is not just a painkiller but a cough suppresent as well. The press seems to be mis-reporting some of the drug details. First they said hydrocodeine was ibuprofin, clearly not the case. Also, Oxycontin and Oxycondiene are NOT the same thing. not that it matters at this point, it's all just very, very sad. God Bless Heath and his family
"Our family enjoyed an extremely happy two week visit with Heath just prior to the New Year. "
and these people didn't see sonny boy was wired on tons of scrips and drugs? C'mon folks addiction is not something you turn on and off like a spigot cause mummy and daddy are in town. Nice spinmeistering!
I think the doctors need to go back to school and learn more about leathal drug combinations of perscribed meds. Can you say Anna and son. When will some one realize our doctors are killing people leagly. Some one please open the eyes of what is going on in the medical professionals
Re: Kate –
I've read in previous comments that he was taking oxy's and that is what led to his death. Was he taking more than one oxy? I only read oxycodone in the mix of drugs. As you can probably tell, I'm not familiar with drugs.
How stupid do the parents and publicists think we are? Read the report - it says ABUSE. Get it ABUSE. That means he took what he was not suposed to take. ABUSE means you did something wrong.
He ABUSED drugs. It may have been an accident but it is because he ABUSED drugs.
Got it?
Re: Brokeback Jake G. –
The reason addiction is so prevalant and insideous is the addicts ability to hide it. Trust me, you've been around people on drugs and not known it. He may or may not have been on them at the time. Can you not just give his family a break and let them handle this in their own way? Why does everyone have to be so nasty and negative. They lost their son. How do you think you'd respond???
If the official cause of death was good enough for the Ledger family then it should be good enough for everyone else. Nothing further needs to be said. Nothing further needs to be speculated upon. This should end now. The family deserve nothing less than the space and privacy their dignified stance has surely earned them. I for one hope they are now left alone, the rumour mongering stops and their beloved Heath can rest in peace. They have shown tremendous dignity and strength in their grief and distress and I hope the media now shows some restraint, backs off and respects their wishes. Anything less would be a travesty.
I just read on people.com that the feds are going to investigate where he got all his drugs. Maybe this will answer some of people's questions. Not that it really matters at this point. It's just very very sad.
Re: scrummymummy –
AMEN
heroin.
Does anyone realize how EASY it is to get prescribed drugs? You can go to as many doctors as you want. Confedentiality laws prevent your medical records to be released. It is so unlikely that all his drugs were given to him by the same doctor. Different doctors, different pharmacies, it's not too hard. Also, if you call your doctor and say something isn't working, they often just call something else in. It's not like they can take back what you've already filled. He probably was abusing drugs, but isn't it a little late to be debating this. Let him rest in peace.
e: Leon –
Hmm, maybe I'd shut my piehole and stop talking to the press to offset my guilt. As far as him hiding it from his family, come on he wasn't THAT good of an actor .
Accidential overdose the new term for celebreties that die from taking a lethal combination of meds.such a shame.the fact is they abused the prescriptions and had a drug problem.
Yes he was a good father ,actor and son but he also had adrug problem.
Re: Rupert Murdoch –
Don't you think maybe they are talking to the press because they want to try and salvage their son's reputation? I think that's a natural reaction. Ideally, they'd be left alone and wouldn't HAVE to comment. In this situation it seems they don't have much of a choice. They can either let the rumor mill run rampant, or try to remember their son for the person they knew and loved. God Bless them all.
WTF Perez???
I've left 2 previous comments but they aren't here.
You can leave up spam & stupid comments from stupid people… but I leave 2 very intelligent, insightful comments and you bump them off ???
People are stupid.
According to the autopsy, Ledger DID NOT have OxyContin in his system.
Oxycodone is the generic name for Percocet - IT IS NOT OXYCONTIN.
Was it the same doctor who perecribed all of the pills? If so, I hope he is investigated for administering the medication without consideration to the effects? If all Heath was aware of was they were low dose and had not been advised on what could happen when mixing the medication surely this is enough for him to lose his license?
Re: Charles Doerr – He didnt take in excess. He was percribed low amounts of percription drugs. It was the combination of drugs that killed him - not the amount. Read your stories carefully before you start attacking.
In a statement released through Ledger's publicist, Ledger's father, Kim, said Wednesday: "While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."
My grandmother died from prescription pills. She took her pills, along with something new she was prescribed, and just dropped dead in her kitchen. She was talking to my grandfather. He has lost the will to live. After my grandmother's death my mother went through her paperwork and looked at everything she was prescribed and it turns out it was over 30 different pills!!! Also, there is a man at my work who abuses prescription drugs and he overdosed in the middle of our office. Luckily everyone was there to help him and the ambulance got there quickly. Amazingly, he was not fired. This is some scary shit.
Re: Rupert Murdoch –
Maybe his family knows that one day Matilda will read all this garbage and they want her to know they stuck up for her dad. Just a thought.
God bless that poor family but I agree that you definitely can't say that "no medications were taken in excess" when you are dealing with that. Vicodin alone is pretty powerful. I'd be afraid to take a vitamin while on that stuff. I couldn't bring myself to use it for my wisdom teeth because I was WELL AWARE of how dangerous it can be. We can finally put this whole thing to rest but I cant help but mention this. His father means well but I don't think he needs to be urging us to know the dangers of those drugs. Even Heath must have known that combining those drugs together is not advised. But it's over now. We know what happened and I hope the press leaves them be from now on.
Don't blame the doctors(s). Heath's passing is horrendous and tragic but completely avoidable. The fact that he may have had a pill addiction doesn't make this any less tragic. But it's sickening to think that any doctor would get blamed for this. Unbelievable. WE THE PEOPLE have ultimate control over our own situations. It's OUR reponsibility to take good care of ourselves if we want to be healthy. Heath was apparently struggling and made the very bad decision to play around with his prescriptions. I'm sure he wasn't anticipating death but he certainly was tooling around with powerful medications. Doctors prescribe what they think you need at the time– NOT expecting the person to abuse it. They put clear warnings on the bottle and provide detailed brochures. Additionally, most people worry about combining drugs and google it if they have extra concerns. With all due respect to this sad death, we need to recognize that he simply had a drug dependency of some kind and ignored the basic facts about prescription drugs. VICODIN? Please. I wouldn't recommend mixing ANYTHING with Vicodin.
STOP!!!! enough already. Even when the truth comes out, no one is willing to accept it. It was an accident. He could've been seeing more than one doctor, they apparently were all treating him for something different (i.e. depression, insomnia, anxiety, whatever). He took too many prescriptions at one time. He may not have even taken them in one shot… he may have spaced them out but not enough. Just let this guy rest in peace . Regardless of his "drug" problem, he didn't die on purpose and he didn't die from recreational drugs. He died from mixing medicine. MEDICINE!!!! You people need to grow the fuck up and have some compassion!!!!!
#104 Lori…
People have EVERY right to abuse drugs if they choose to. It's a sucky plan of action IMO but whatever. Modifying the medical side of this has nothing to do with anything. We have the freedom in this country to kill ourselves if we want. Heath probably wanted to be alive for his daughter but his addiction clouded that. He still knew better initially. He could have stopped the cycle. You can't lay the burden of this on the medical world. It's unfair. People off themselves constantly. By eating unhealthy foods, smoking, drinking excessively, etc. We make choices everyday that affect us. We have nobody to blame but ourselves if the shit hits the fan.
The problem Heath has probably traces back somewhere in his past or through his celebrity status. Not much anyone can do for somebody that doesn't want help and continues the downward spiral. It's just the truth. We are free to live, free to hurt ourselves and sadly free to die.
I just don't understand everyone's need to play the blame game and point fingers. No matter how Heath's death happened, it's a tragedy. We will probably never know if he was an addict, just going through a temporary period of drug abuse or WHATEVER. No matter what, he is gone and his child is left without a father and his family is left without a son, brother, loved one. All the finger pointing in the world will not bring him back.
Re: Margo –
amen margo! well said. im lookng forward to seeing an end to this media circus but that needed to be said. i have no problem with drug addicts as long as they arent driving or intruding on the normal lives of others. do what you want but dont try to place the blame on other people when it ends unfavorably. good god. we're such a finger pointing society. i sympathize with addicts. particularly the ones that arent out trying to wreck things for other people. i feel nothing but pity because they cant help themselves. it doesnt mean that we should go down a list of people to blame when it hits rock bottom. he died. he was some kind of drug addict. unless he just~so~happened to have severe pain, severe anxiety, and severe insomina all at once, id say this handsome gent knew what he was dealing with. maybe too naive to realize that death was one very possible if not inevitable side effect but still knew that he wasnt doing the right thing. i wouldnt be saying that if it wasnt smacking me in the face like this. that list of drugs was pretty scary. lengthy. acute intoxication isn't easy to achieve by accident. i think the media is correct in reporting that the death was by accident but all of the statements that imply that it wasnt excessive is pretty damn ridiculous. silly geese.
Hidden dangers of combining prescription medication??? I guess only regular people know the dangers of combining medications.
What this country needs is a national database which every single person must be a part of that is for tracking and determining medications and prescriptions. It would only be accesible to doctors and other medical facilities. It would be in the form of a card which each patient must turn over to be scanned by the doctor. A central database would show what medications have been prescribed to this patient with dosages and dates. Further law enforcement needs to be put into place to make selling of prescription medications over the internet a felony. No one should be allowed to sell or purchase controlled substances without a Dr's prescription and a visit to the Dr for a medical exam.
Hillary Clinton, rather than mandate that every American should pay into medical insurance would do better to put her efforts into this idea of a national database.
YES, I was a junkie. I abused drugs and accidently took too many. Now can you please let me rest in peace?
P.S. Please make sure they put - "prescription pill popping junkie" on my head stone.
Loss is devastating and heartbreaking, obviously. But you are NOT the only ones in the world who has gone through this traumatic experience. Super, Heath was a wonderful actor and great spirit and bla bla bla. Well Im pretty damn sure there were other beautiful spirits out there who've died traumatically and no one gave a damn and went on with their life.
The cold hard truth of this world is that people die, and as much as it feels like your soul is being sucked out of your body by a ridiculously powerful vaccum while contemplating the reality of the word alone, you have to get over it or you have no reason to live. Atleast he died sleeping. Atleast he didnt get a bullet to the head, or an ax to the heart, or get murdered. He's in a different place now.
Stop @#$%ing contradicting yourselves and sending stupid ass messages to the media requesting your family'a privacy when you keep on contacting the media through your constant and unecessary statements. If you truly wanted to grieve in privacy one statement would have been enough.
God bless………
In the past six months, Heath was working in Chicago on The Dark Knight, in London with Terry Gilliam, and he was also in and out of NYC. So it's very possible he had doctors in different locations writing prescriptions or that he was seeing for his medical problems. And usually, in order for a film to get insurance for its actors, they have to insist that the actors get physicals before they start work. So Heath might have been in touch with two or three doctors, he might have forgotten his meds and needed a new prescription, who knows? I can actually see a doctor saying, "I'm going to give you this prescription, but I want you to follow up with your regular doctor when you get home." I know one thing. I can't stant the Olsens. And I never want to see or hear about MKO again. Ever!
How can they say it was not "in excess"??? He OD'd!!!
I don't understand how stressed people in the entertainment industry are that they have to take all this drugs! Why?
Re: L – Hey moron…Percocet contains Oxycodone. Oxycodone and Ozycontin are the same drug, one is quick acting, one is time release..they are the SAME THING. I agree though..People are stupid…you prove that very well.
3 of the 6 prescription drugs found in Ledger's apartment had been filled in Europe, where the actor was recently filming, police said.
(The Associated Press)
Re: Lori – not really.
It's because the doctors and labels give them instructions on what to do and people ignore it.
It's upto people to take their medication properly. The doctors really have fuck all to do with it.
STOP LOOKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO BLAME !!!!!!
The doctors don't FORCE people to take all that shit.
As fucking usual, a couple of idiots ruin it for everyone else. Regular people have difficulty buying fucking COLD MEDICINE BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU. STOP FUCKING THINGS UP.
Addicts are doing us a favor when they OD. They should get help and try to contol it. If they don't then…what do you expect? I'm not going to feel sorry for them and try to blame someone for how this could have happened.
I KNOW. They put the tablets in their mouth.
Millions upon millions upon MILLIONS of people all manage to take their medication properly. People have full medicine cabinets for years, but only a few go raid it and take everything in it and still try to find more.
It's not the frickin doctors fault so just shut up already and deal with it.
DRUGGIES WILL/CAN OVERDOSE.
Re: happymommy – um, i'm not preventing them from burying their son.
Neither is anyone else on here.
In fact, neither is the press.
IN FACT, NO ONE IS PREVENTING THEM FROM BURYING HIM !!
in case you didn't notice
Re: anonymous – are you kidding me?!!!! shut up!!! The solution is not to track everyone!!! We are heading for an absolute tolitarian world. I think people should be allowed to keep at least a tiny bit of their freedom, don't you?? I thought that's what America was all about?
Humans are supposed to have free will. People need to take responsibility for themselves. You are responsible for not killing yourself, not some hospital 5 miles away or a database tracking you constantly.
Re: L – Before you do around calling people stupid, I highly suggest you know what you're talking about. You make a fool out of yourself otherwise. The generic name for Percocet is not Oxycodone, it's acetaminophen and Oxycodone. Oxycodone is the narcotic in it. Oxycontin gets it's name from OXYcodone CONTINuouse release. They are one in the same. Who's stupid now??.
L: Unfortunately you are wrong. Oxycodone is the generic term for Oxcontin as many others have noted here. Anyway - not trying to call you out. The thing is, I am a cancer nurse and I know how important oxycodone is for managing pain control for terminally ill patients fighting exorbitant paint with excessive tumor growth and for trauma patients who have lost limbs, etc. But frankly, there are few LEGITIMATE doctors who will prescribe OXY for anxiety, insomnia, depression, grief or generalized discomfort. While I dont know Ledger's medical history - I can only speculate that his maladies did not fit this profile and wonder what credentialed medical professional would prescribe to him Oxycontin. Thus, sadly - as a hugely loyal Ledger fan - can surmise only that this was an off-label use and he likely had obtained this medication without legitmate prescription. So bottom line - no doctors, no "big brother", no monstrous "establishment" order to blame here. Ledger was not unintelligent or naive… just an addict who one way or another needed to escape his human predicament. Yes - a sad, misguided, tragic, premature loss to human weakness (addiction is a veritable hell for many people) and somehow this man lost site of what he was was doing and how far it had gone. Anyway, just my two cents from both a professional and personal perspective. Maybe there will be a public message of value that will come out of this. Who knows?
Re: wow – TOTALITARIAN world.
I just noticed I spelled it wrong. Thankfully no one had made fun of me for it yet
Re: adAADSAD – I really do wish that all those fucken rude, stupid, clueless people would keep thier unkind words to themself! No one wants to hear your negative crap! If you havent been sleeping for awhile you cant think straight- lack of sleep can play with your head! So unless you know whats that like plus throw in all the other stuff he was going through- JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!
Let the cunt root now eh! He wasn't even that good for fucks sake.
"combining prescription medication, even at low dosage"… I saw a video with drugs there was nothing low dosage about his drug use
Actually…
Oxycodone is PERCOCET… Oxycodone & Acetametphin (tylenol). Yes, Oxycodone is a derivative of OxyContin, but Oxycontin is stronger, time released and more pure - it does not have tylenol in it!!!
I'm not stupid. I was a nurse for 8 yrs. I also take Oxycodone NOT OxyContin for breast cancer pain. Damn, have you ever read a drug dictionary???
Re: L – hmmm…find it hard to believe you were a nurse.I take Oxycodone and Oxycontin….Oxycontin is not stronger then Oxycodone….it is the exact same thing…just more of it in the tablet (usually) because it is time released. Oxycontin is not a derivative of Oxycodone…it is the SAME THING. Taking a 10 mg tablet of Oxycontin is actually LESS strong than a 10 mg tablet of Oxycodone if your looking at it how you say, because less gets released into your system at a time. Yep, I've read drug dictionaries, talked to many a doctor…Oxycodone is NOT Percocet…it's IN Percocet….that's like saying a peanut butter sandwiche IS peanut butter. Learn to admit when you are wrong L.