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Sean Levert, denied medication, hallucinated for hours before he died in jail
Plain Dealer Reporter ^ | November 11, 2008 | Donna J. Miller

Posted on 11/11/2008 1:31:09 PM PST by RogerFGay

CLEVELAND -- R&B singer Sean Levert entered the Cuyahoga County Jail on March 24 clutching the prescribed medication he took regularly for anxiety.

Jail staff took the bottle of Xanax away from him and failed to give him a single pill during the six days he was there, investigators said. Even when he began suffering horrifying delusions, he wasn't given his medication and never saw a doctor.

Instead, on March 30, jailers strapped Levert into a restraint chair, still fighting the monstrous visions in his head caused by withdrawal from the medication. Minutes later, the 39-year-old son of O'Jays star Eddie Levert stopped breathing. His heart then stopped and doctors couldn't save him.

Recently released Cuyahoga County investigators' reports, interviews and the Cuyahoga County coroner's report together reveal the details of Sean E. Levert Sr.'s final days in the overcrowded jail, run by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office.

Levert was sentenced March 24 to 22 months in prison for owing $90,988.96 to three children he fathered before marrying 13 years ago. Deputies brought him from a Cuyahoga County courtroom to the jail in the same building. During the booking process, Levert surrendered a bottle of Xanax that contained 37 pills. He began taking the 2-milligram pills three times a day in November 2007. The prescription for 90 pills was refilled on March 12.

(Excerpt) Read more at blog.cleveland.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: corrections; disorders; inmates; mentallillness
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To: ConservativeMind

53 pills were gone...that’s more than 3 per day...like 5 per day...or he pocketed some...An autopsy should be done...


21 posted on 11/11/2008 1:52:09 PM PST by Sacajaweau (I'm planting corn...Have to feed my car...)
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To: RogerFGay
Levert was sentenced March 24 to 22 months in prison for owing $90,988.96 to three children he fathered before marrying 13 years ago.

Another dad in debtors prison. Dead. Nice, huh?

22 posted on 11/11/2008 1:53:51 PM PST by Travis T. OJustice (Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.)
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To: RogerFGay

This is crap!

This man was given a medication, by a doctor. It does not matter if someone thinks they shouldn’t need it or have it, you GIVE IT IF PRESCRIBED.

I am not for frivolous lawsuits, but I hope they sue the crap out of this county.


23 posted on 11/11/2008 1:56:50 PM PST by autumnraine (Churchill: " we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall never surrender")
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To: Sacajaweau
Not just that ~ jail personnel certainly can never argue like the teachers that they can't tell one pill from another ~ particularly when there was a bottle with the prescription references on it.

Someone murdered this man.

24 posted on 11/11/2008 1:57:12 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: RogerFGay
Scroll down to see DEMOCRAT Sheriff Gerald T. McFaul's mug on the Cuyahoga County Dim website. Nice work, Gerald.

www.cuydem.com

25 posted on 11/11/2008 1:57:59 PM PST by Dr. Thorne (Buy Gold and Guns Now.)
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To: Emmett McCarthy

My father takes xanax for heart conditions too.

The hallucinations of the cold turkey removal would have put more stress on his already fragile heart.


26 posted on 11/11/2008 1:58:08 PM PST by autumnraine (Churchill: " we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall never surrender")
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To: ConservativeMind

For a typical person, 2-8 weeks is normal.

But for a person with a heart condition, it is a long term medication.


27 posted on 11/11/2008 1:58:42 PM PST by autumnraine (Churchill: " we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall never surrender")
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To: Emmett McCarthy
I've been on 50 mg Xanax and 65 mg Cymbalta for the past 6 weeks due to a panic attack and depression. I have to say that this is the perfect combination for me. For the first time in my life I feel normal and don't ever want to go off this combo.
28 posted on 11/11/2008 2:01:34 PM PST by proudofthesouth (What Obama's and Michell's REAL names are: Obama = O'Fuerher / Michell = MiMao)
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To: ConservativeMind

Most of the time limits and some of the dose limits are CYA for the drug companies. In real life, many people take Xanax effictively for much longer periods. And how is it the doc’s fault that an inmate died from a forced withdrawal of a drug notorious for severe withdrawal symptoms?


29 posted on 11/11/2008 2:03:33 PM PST by philomath (from the state of Franklin)
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To: RogerFGay
No one should be prescribed Xanax or any other Benzodiazapine for ANY reason.

The stuff is brain poison and can't be quit cold turkey.

Not at all surprised that it caused death!

Drug companies are dangerous!

You unhappy? Take this here pill and all will be well.

BS!

30 posted on 11/11/2008 2:04:33 PM PST by FixitGuy (By their fruits shall ye know them!)
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To: RogerFGay

Believe me! Ya don’t wanna go to Cleveland! I have to go to the Asian market every ten days or so. Luckily, they’re close to the freeway. In and out as fast as possible. Well, maybe a stop for some Dim Sum,,,,,


31 posted on 11/11/2008 2:05:48 PM PST by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ("Don't touch that thing")
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To: autumnraine

Well, I’m not sure the xanax is strictly for my heart condition as much as it is for the conditions of dealing with 2 ex-wives. Not long after my heart attack, one of them thought it a good idea to move her 22 year-old boyfriend into the house with my 17 year-old son. She was 45 at the time. I cut off the money I was paying her and got the cussing out of a lifetime over that. The other ex doesn’t seem to understand that I can’t pay her $500 a month in child support - for my 15 year-old daughter who lives with me. I’m actually pleased to be able to get by on as low a dosage as I do.


32 posted on 11/11/2008 2:06:39 PM PST by Emmett McCarthy
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To: RogerFGay

Getting off long-term Xanax use is more dangerous than getting off long-term use of alcohol.


33 posted on 11/11/2008 2:09:16 PM PST by LiberConservative (Typical white guy)
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To: proudofthesouth

You sure it’s 50 mg? And not .50 (half a mg)? If I understand it correctly, 50 mg would be 25 of what the “street sellers” of it call “footballs”.


34 posted on 11/11/2008 2:10:36 PM PST by Emmett McCarthy
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To: FixitGuy
No one should be prescribed Xanax or any other Benzodiazapine for ANY reason.

Back up this statement, please. What are your qualifications to make this determination?

35 posted on 11/11/2008 2:13:16 PM PST by Citizen Blade (What would Ronald Reagan do?)
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To: RobinOfKingston

Yet law and order conservatives want to empower the government on the small stuff like traffic laws and petty possession. Fye on them I say, you can’t empower government without unintended consequences, no matter how righteous your cause.


36 posted on 11/11/2008 2:13:52 PM PST by DariusBane (I've got a bracelet too :))
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To: RogerFGay

The line between prisoners and prison guards is, alas too frequently, the uniform.

And WTF is up with imprisonment for non-payment of a debt?

I thought debtors prison was illegal.


37 posted on 11/11/2008 2:14:02 PM PST by MeanWestTexan (A Jew voting for Obama is like a chicken voting for Col. Sanders.)
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To: DariusBane

Forgot to mention that these dead beat dad laws are the legacy of the Moral Majority from the late 80’s


38 posted on 11/11/2008 2:14:50 PM PST by DariusBane (I've got a bracelet too :))
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To: Emmett McCarthy

Oops! Sorry! I’m on .50 mg of Xanax a day.


39 posted on 11/11/2008 2:15:01 PM PST by proudofthesouth (What Obama's and Michell's REAL names are: Obama = O'Fuerher / Michell = MiMao)
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To: FixitGuy
No one should be prescribed Xanax or any other Benzodiazapine for ANY reason.

One time use before a medical procedure is fine, but for long term use I agree completely. AA calls all the benzos "alcohol in a pill".

40 posted on 11/11/2008 2:15:02 PM PST by LiberConservative (Typical white guy)
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