Heath Ledger found dead!

X · January 22, 2008, 08:33:48 PM

Quote from: Bryancd on January 22, 2008, 04:30:27 PM
It is a shame and also a good lesson to be learned for both Steve and Nate regarding excess in life and the consequences. Reasonable people don't accidentally end their lives.

I'd like to respectfully disagree with this statement. I know of several reasonable people who have accidentally ended their lives. Car accidents for one. People also make mistakes in taking their prescriptions or have the wrong pills given to them or the right pills given at the wrong dose and then die.

The fact of the matter is that we really don't know how he died and to assume that it was because he lived in excess is kind of myopic. Young and old people die from accidents all of the time and until the facts are in, judging someone's actions on nothing more than speculation isn't very productive.

Two children lost their father and that's probably the biggest tragedy. Until something more concrete comes out, let's try not to assume that because he was an actor he had to be killed by an OD purposefull or otherwise. If it was something drug related, that might be released, but until then, we should at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

Rico · January 23, 2008, 04:36:59 AM

I'm pretty sure it's the causes of the "accident" that Bryan was referring to. Nothing has been officially determined in this case, but it is a known fact that he had a substance abuse problem. Whether this turns out to be a drug OD or not remains to be determined. A car accident and what appears to of happened here are pretty different things. In any case, it is a very sad thing to of happened.

Blackride · January 23, 2008, 05:05:53 AM

Quote from: Rico on January 23, 2008, 04:36:59 AM
A car accident and what appears to of happened here are pretty different things.

Yeah, I sure hope people do not equate the two. That's just not the same thing at all.

Bryancd · January 23, 2008, 05:14:17 AM

Quote from: Rico on January 23, 2008, 04:36:59 AM
I'm pretty sure it's the causes of the "accident" that Bryan was referring to. Nothing has been officially determined in this case, but it is a known fact that he had a substance abuse problem. Whether this turns out to be a drug OD or not remains to be determined. A car accident and what appears to of happened here are pretty different things. In any case, it is a very sad thing to of happened.

Yes, that was my inference.

X · January 23, 2008, 05:49:43 AM

The only reason I brought it up like that is because we lost my brother to a car accident, but I've also lost people I know to accidental overdoses. I think I became more aware of the problem when I worked at a pharmacy. Some people that are suffering from some sort of pain and seeks help can find themselves placed in danger because they forgot to mention one of the drugs they were taking and then had an interaction between that one and the new script.

This happens a lot easier when you are moving between to states or coasts and your entire medical record isn't recieved by the different medical personnel.

It is my personal hope that it was a drug interaction rather than an overdose of something illegal. From experience I think that it is easier for the family to cope when the person just made a simple mistake rather than a error in their attempts to get high.

Jobydrone · January 23, 2008, 03:53:02 PM

My stepmother died from an accidental drug overdose, after mixing pain medication she was receiving after a back operation and sleeping pills that were prescribed before the procedure because she was in so much pain she needed help falling asleep. She was a very reasonable, intelligent person that made a terrible mistake and paid for it with her life, breaking my father's heart and devastating her three daughters.

The thing about judgemental comments, however innocently they are made and whatever justification you may feel you have to back up your statement, is that generally they are better left unsaid. I don't know why you would make that statement Bryan, but it's possibly the most thoroughly wrongheaded comment I have seen on this board.

Bryancd · January 23, 2008, 04:12:32 PM

My apologies, Joby, I didn't mean any disrespect. The point of my comment was not to be judgemental but rather to point out that is seems very often that in the cases of people with celebrity, we all seem quick to lament their passing as if the tragedy was, like yours, very personal, when people in far more desperate situations die in relative obscurity from bad decisions or circumstances, and we barely pause to notice. In general, it is more likely for someone to overdose due to abuse as opposed to accidently. It was less about this persons passing and more about our reaction to it. also, if it was drug related, I wanted to impress upon some of the younger people on the board the inherent danger of excess.
Truly that was my intention.

Blackride · January 23, 2008, 04:26:22 PM

I think people may be taking Bryan a bit out of context. I think he was refering to this case and not other people's personal situations. That's how I read it at least. To me a message board is a good place to discuss these things. It more beneficial to explain to someone how you feel rather than not say anything at all imo. It's also good information for people to hear other side of the story and to educate others to different sides of the story.

<soapbox>getting down</soapbox>

X · January 23, 2008, 04:31:18 PM

I can understand where you are coming from, but when I read it, it seemed like it was a comment based on an assumption of guilt.

As for people dying in obscurity, I don't think that it's his fault that people feel for his death. People feel bad when they assume they have a connection with a person. Entertainers tend to cause emotionals responses in people that seem to support that connection.

I'm pretty sure that everyone in the country didn't know all of the people that died on 9/11, but many people grieved for them because of what they represented.

I'm also pretty sure that the country's outpouring of grief for the far less numerous victims of the tsunami wasn't a trickle compared to what they seemed to be showing in the days and weeks after 9/11.

Personally, I try to hardly notice any death because of my personal beliefs. To me, there is something more after life and there is no need to grieve because the situation isn't really about me. Grief has always been a bit selfish to me since I consider that there is something better beyond. No need to depress my departing loved ones by crying about how much I need them or how my I love them.

I also understand the need to attempt to turn a tragedy into a lesson, but I don't think anyone here would like to have the achievements of their lives overshadowed by an assumed cause of death.

Bryancd · January 23, 2008, 04:42:34 PM

There is no guilt or innocence, there is simply choices or decisions which have consequences. Justice and fairness are not often part of that equation, nor is right or wrong. They find Chris Farley dead on the floor of his living room from a drug OD, we all freak out. They find some 17 year old mom dead with her baby at her side, we move on. It's not guilt, it's how we react. When I say right minded people I mean, in general, we all need to take stock of how how we live our lives and avoid the potential tragedy we make of them. I think it's awful this man died, but if he died due to willfull negligence, why should that not be a lesson to us all?

X · January 23, 2008, 04:47:04 PM

I'm jus suggesting that it doesn't be made into a lesson before the body has cooled and the facts have not come in. To your question, I pose another question. Why should it need to be a lesson at all, don't we have enough of those already?

Bryancd · January 23, 2008, 04:59:45 PM

I suppose that depends how well we listen.

Rico · January 23, 2008, 04:59:53 PM

Nothing has been determined on this yet gang. It's obviously a very complex and passionate subject. For now, I am simply sorry for both Heath and his friends and family. And for me that's enough for now.

Blackride · January 23, 2008, 05:09:55 PM

Quote from: Rico on January 23, 2008, 04:59:53 PM
It's obviously a very complex and passionate subject.

I think that is a very good point. People deal with situations in different ways. Some get sad while some get angry. I try to be sensetive to both as sometimes it takes times for people's real feeling to come out.

Geekyfanboy · February 06, 2008, 03:18:39 PM

NY ME: Ledger Died of Prescription Drug Accidental Overdose

Source: Fox News

Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner said Wednesday.

The cause of death was "acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine," spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement.

The medical examiner's office only provided generic names, so it is unknown whether he took generic or brand-name drugs. Police had said they found six types of prescription drugs, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication, in Ledger's apartment.

Oxycodone is a painkiller marketed as OxyContin and used in other painkillers such as Percodan and Percocet; hydrocodone is used in a number of painkillers, including Vicodin.

Diazepam and alprazolam are the generic names for the anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and the other two drugs are sleep aids commonly sold under the brands Restoril and Unisom.

"What you're looking at here is the cumulative effects of these medications together," she said.

The ruling comes two weeks after the 28-year-old Australian-born actor was found dead in the bed of his rented SoHo apartment.

Ledger's family returned to the actor's hometown of Perth, Australia, on Tuesday to prepare for his funeral. Arrangements were private.

In a statement released through Ledger's publicist, the actor'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."

Heath Ledger was discovered by his masseuse Jan. 22 after she arrived for an appointment that afternoon. She entered his bedroom to set up for the massage and found him unresponsive, and proceeded to call Mary-Kate Olsen three times over the next 9 minutes before dialing 911. Ledger had been dead for some time, and police say no foul play occurred. Police said they found a rolled-up $20 bill near the bed.

Ledger, nominated for an Oscar for his role in "Brokeback Mountain," had returned to New York from London, where he had been filming a $30 million Terry Gilliam film, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," days before his death. He said in a November interview that his roles in the Batman movie "The Dark Knight" and the Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" had taken a toll.

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he had taken two Ambien pills, which only gave him an hour of sleep.