Replies

(no link)

What a guy!

(Imagine what has gone on UNREPORTED.)

Rep. Kennedy ‘s woes go way back - From asthma to addictions, popular lawmaker has struggled for decades
Chicago Tribune (IL) - Sunday, May 7, 2006
Author: Shailagh Murray and Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post. Post staff writer David Fahrenthold in Rhode Island and researcher Madonna Lebling in Washington contributed to this report.

For Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), the early-morning crash of his Mustang convertible near the Capitol while in what he described as a prescription-drug-induced daze was the latest in a series of troubling incidents dating to his youth.

Kennedy , 38, has battled drug dependency and other health problems throughout his life. He suffers from chronic asthma, and while in his 20s, he endured a 12-hour operation to remove a tumor from his spinal column, requiring months of recovery time.

But the most persistent malady has been manic depression, which fostered addiction problems that trace to cocaine abuse during his teenage years. Over the last Christmas break, Kennedy spent three weeks at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., the same treatment center he returned to Friday, two days after the car crash.

“He is an addictive personality,” said a family friend who spoke on condition of anonymity. Kennedy quit drinking during his winter stay at the clinic, according to the friend.

Kennedy , the son of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), grew up in McLean, Va., and had a somewhat troubled youth, including time spent in drug rehabilitation in 1986, the year before he enrolled at Providence College.

Blessed with a famous family name, the young Kennedy entered Rhode Island politics when he was 21 and won election to the U.S. House in 1994.

Although he seemed on course to a promising political career in the footsteps of his liberal Democratic father and his uncles, President John Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy (D-N.Y.), the young Kennedy was dogged by addictions, depression and self-doubts.

He had a particularly bad year in 2000. In March, the same month he admitted he was being treated for depression, he had a run-in with a security guard at Los Angeles International Airport who informed Kennedy he would have to check a large carry-on bag. The security guard filed a battery suit, and Kennedy paid an undisclosed sum to settle the case.

That July, a girlfriend who was aboard a yacht with Kennedy called the Coast Guard asking to be picked up, after a heated argument between the couple. And in November, Kennedy was accused by a charter company of inflicting $28,000 in damage on a boat he had rented.

In Rhode Island, rumors flew this spring that something was amiss with Kennedy , who had been keeping a particularly low profile in recent months.

He did attract attention three weeks ago, when he was attending an economic development meeting in Pawtucket. Wisconsin entrepreneur Matt Kriesel was demonstrating the shock absorption of a brand of gel when the hammer he was using flew apart and the head hit Kennedy in the mouth. Concerned about his addiction, Kennedy refused to take any pain medication when he received six stitches to his lower lip, according to a friend.

Sometime around 2:45 a.m. Thursday, Kennedy crashed his car into a security barrier near the Capitol, and officers at the scene suspected he may have been intoxicated, according to a police union official. The congressman’s office later said Kennedy was disoriented behind the wheel because he was taking prescription medication to calm stomach inflammation and to help him sleep.

(snip)