Methadone.
It's not just for rehab anymore.
Posted on 02/26/2007 4:42:22 AM PST by shrinkermd
Patients and addicts are mixing the opiate with other drugs, as did Anna Nicole Smith's son
...Well before these deaths, however, drug counselors and clinicians were concerned about increased abuse of the drug on the streets, in group homes and even in middle schools.
It is an ironic turn in the history of methadone, which for years has been used to treat heroin addiction.
A synthetic opiate, methadone is similar to heroin in chemistry, curbing a user's craving for the illegal opiate by blocking the sensors that heroin stimulates without producing a heroin high.
In recent years, methadone has proved lethal to a growing number of patients or addicts who use it in conjunction with prescription drugs including Valium, Xanax or, in the case of addicts, illegal narcotics such as cocaine.
Sometimes users swallow methadone before or after they "puff," when they seek to get high by slowly inhaling the chemicals from an aerosol can.
"Every year, we see hundreds of these deaths, and the numbers continue to increase," said Bruce Goldberger, director of toxicology at the University of Florida, who has been at the forefront of tracking methadone-related deaths. "It is absolutely the fastest-growing drug problem."
...A federal government study found that nationwide methadone-related deaths climbed to more than 3,800 in 2004 from about 780 in 1999. Among all narcotic-related deaths in 2004, only cocaine killed more people in the United States than methadone.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It is cheap and users are unlikely to be sentenced like ordinary drug addicts. This plus Methadone addiction having an iatrogenic quality means its use is hidden from ordinary public view.
Methadone.
It's not just for rehab anymore.
Anna Nicole's son OD'ed on Methadone and Anna Nicole had a huge bottle of it in her fridge, presumably prescribed. Her friends really let her down...if she had any.
What's with the photo of Brimley? He's not on drugs, is he? I met him several times in LA in the '70s, darned nice fellah. Didn't even drink, much less take drugs.
Did Methadone kill Anna Nicole?
Methadone or silicone?
I bet it would have taken weeks to identify all the different drugs that was in her body, a shame, and yet there are so many following in her foot steps.
The ME said it would be 2-3 weeks before the results of her tox screen would be known, which would make it this week that we may find out the cause or manner of death.
It had been leaked from somewhere that there were 12 drugs in her system, but I haven't heard that confirmed. Her lawyer Stern testified last week that she had been taking Topamax, Dilaudid, methadone and some others, but he couldn't name the others.
She was prescribed methadone in large quantities ("for traveling") by phone from a doctor in Los Angeles who defended its use for pregnant women. That was in August and she gave birth in September, so she was 8 months pregnant. Stern claimed that she hadn't taken methadone in the past 5 months (which would be since the baby was born or since her son died, whichever).
There were 7 drugs in Daniel's system when he died: methadone, Lexapro, Zoloft, benadryl, pseudoephedrine, Ambien and trace amounts of another unidentified substance, which Wecht wouldn't name because he didn't want to "embarrass the family."
It was said that there were 6-7x the normal dosage amounts of the antidepressants and as much as 20x normal of the methadone. The coroner's inquest into his death has been scheduled and canceled and re-scheduled and is now set for March 27th. ANS would've been a witness to be called.
Also found in the hospital room where Daniel died, in the bed where either he or Stern had slept while visiting ANS, who was recuperating from the c-section 3 days earlier for the birth of Dannielynn, were two pills - one was methdaone and one was a muscle relaxant, Carisoprodol.
Wilford Brimley is a well-known oatmeal abuser.
The point of 'family embarrassment' has longed passed Mr Wecht!!!! I wonder if he can spell 'homocide'?????????
Giggle.
We do.
A long-term cereal abuser.
A fitting Oscars-morning-after quote:
"I used to be a heroin addict. Now I'm a methadone addict."
The next thing you know, the two marry (legally or not legally) and plan to marry in the States. Could it be they married because spouses cannot testify against each other?
I believe that Brimley has passed.
Spouses CAN testify against each other. I believe they cannot be forced to however.
No, he hasn't. I don't get the reference, either.
The fact that HKS was present at both deaths cannot be overlooked and should be looked at. He may have OD'ed both of them on Methadone. What legitimate medical professional would prescribe it to Daniel or Anna? A fishy smell permeates the air...
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