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 ...
53 pills were gone...that’s more than 3 per day...like 5 per day...or he pocketed some...An autopsy should be done...
Another dad in debtors prison. Dead. Nice, huh?
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.
Someone murdered this man.
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.
For a typical person, 2-8 weeks is normal.
But for a person with a heart condition, it is a long term medication.
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?
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!
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,,,,,
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.
Getting off long-term Xanax use is more dangerous than getting off long-term use of alcohol.
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”.
Back up this statement, please. What are your qualifications to make this determination?
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.
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.
Forgot to mention that these dead beat dad laws are the legacy of the Moral Majority from the late 80’s
Oops! Sorry! I’m on .50 mg of Xanax a day.
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".
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