Big Pharma kills yet another celebrity: Brittany Murphy on multiple prescriptions at time of death

reply to post by Matthew Dark

They are called paparazzi for a reason?
Or dare I say it, vultures?
That is a gross generalization, but I have heard that term used before.

Good point MD!
Maybe too much news is unhealthy too!
Look at what happened to Diana!

Also, I guess it is our fault somewhat for oggling the stars and demanding the latest news. I am guilty of it too sometimes, obviously.
Thanks!

reply to post by dodadoom


Y'see, here's the way I see it...
The paparazzi's are basically just following supply and demand.
They do not create the need for sensationalism, they merely feed the already current need for it. If people didn't engage in such shallow hero-worship, then paparazzis would be out of a job. They are a product of society, and not the other way around. They exist solely due to our desire to put so much emphasis on the celebrity lifestyle. Most people are so disconnected from their own puny lives that they need to live vicariously through celebrities. Hell, even myself, who grew up a huge wrestling fan...I no longer watch it really, but I constantly check the 'insider' websites basically just to see who's died recently. Macabre, yes, but again, I'm another product of our society. Also, along those same lines, I work in psych, am going to school for nursing (switching my major from nutrition), have studied pharmacology and nutritional supplemental chemistry and have spent a lot of time researching so when I hear stories like this, I can't help but become interested. And, I won't lie to you, I was a fairly big fan of hers, and when I heard she died, yes, I actually texted some people to share the news. I don't really know why I did it...it was like a compulsion...like I was just a cog in the machine. So I'm just as guilty of feeding the sensationalistic need as anyone else...which honestly surprises me because I don't own a or watch television (with the very strict exception of a few shows on adult swim and the show 'heroes') so for myself, who is an ardent detractor of 'celebrityism'...this was a unique behavior for me to engage in. Okay, I'm ranting a bit, but the point is, is that no matter where or who we are, on some level, we support the paparazzis and the celebrity lifestyle so when someone like Brittany Murphy dies, yes, we're shocked, yes, on some level we're saddened, but more than anything else we all wonder (whether we want to admit it or not)...we all wonder...'who's next?'

Supply and demand indeed!
Thats part of what killed her too in my opinion.
This demand to "be skinny and happy like everyone else".
This pressure of girls thinking they have to be thin as a stick to be beautiful has got to go.
They need to just be happy with themselves! IMO
I know its hard to do.

Thanks for sharing, it wasnt ranting at all!
I see now why you are interested.
You have some training! Right on.

Are you familiar with homeopathy, alternative treatments,
naturopathy or chinese medicine or techniques?
You should look into it a bit, you may really get something out of it.

I was not a huge fan unfortunately.
I am more interested from a conspiracy standpoint.
But I am growing in my appreciation of her work however.

I enjoy reading the news from this OP website once in awhile.
Sure they sometimes hype these titles, but I think just about every
news org does that.
Once again, its up to us to determine the hype from the truth.

No TV? Wow! Thats great!
I am hooked myself...
I especially love the history channel.

At least we can help get the dangers of these drugs out there,
and tell people to please read the dang labels anyway!
If it saves one life its all worth it.
Edit: thank you!



[edit on 27-12-2009 by dodadoom]

you know whats funny? i work within a big pharmaceutical company and have access to some big meeting with company leaders. yet not once have i heard them discuss how they're planning on screwing people for profit.

never do i hear them talk about withholding certain new medicines or technologies for profit.

all i ever hear them discuss is how they need to work harder to create new drugs, advance their new portfolio, and research new technologies.

and most importantly, they always stress putting the patient first.

kinda of funy don't you think? unless they're holding all these meetings for PR control.

oh wait...these meetings are all private, confidential, and are never seen by anyone outside of the company.

[edit on 27-12-2009 by f4rwest]

reply to post by f4rwest

G'day f4rwest.

I tend to agree with your post, having also spent a long time "on the inside".

I guess we are just a pair of old "disinfo" agents

Originally posted by dodadoom
Are you familiar with homeopathy, alternative treatments,
naturopathy or chinese medicine or techniques?
You should look into it a bit, you may really get something out of it.

Quite familiar with it.
I was studying massage and acupuncture for a while, which is what led me to the academic studying of nutrition.
Which is what led me to pharmacology, and ultimately nursing.
I was raised to 'keep it natural', as it were.
My mother is an organic/sustainable farmer in Virginia and growing up we used to grow all of our own vegetables in our yard back on Long Island.
My mother taught me about all sorts of herbal remedies and then I took the proverbial ball and ran with it.

I don't find it funny at all.
I find it very typical actually.
Stuff happens.
Just the nature of the HC "beast" prolly.
Look at the new health care mess (er I mean bill) for instance.

One question, why does a prescription of celebrex cost 250.00$?

Shouldnt common sense kick in sometime, or compassion even?

How come they dont talk about the millions who cant afford them or have to choose between their meds or food in those meetings?

Why dont they talk about the billions spent on advertising drugs like they are cell phones? Lord knows they cost as much or more!
Now thats funny!

I think we have already seen this movie.

Its just as much the persons responsibility as anyones,
if not ultimately even more so!
Especially more than someone in some boardroom somewhere.
Right?

reply to post by dodadoom


Well yes and no.
It's the individual's responsibility to do their best to educate themselves about the food they eat and the lifestyle they engage in.
And, with the vast amount of free information available these days, it's not really all that hard; one only has to want it and put forth the effort.
I myself am a strict vegetarian, and have been for 13+ years, I do smoke and drink copious amounts of alcohol though.
Yes, I'm quite aware of the dangers of these behaviors, but I am taking full responsibility for my actions and blame no one but myself should something go wrong.
No, I won't preach the concept of 'moderation' because I believe in indulgence, so I would do nothing but promote hypocrisy if I were to do so.
However, I make up for some faults with other skills and seek balance of a kind with my habits.
When on prescription drugs (which I've had to use for various reasons I will not go into at this juncture) I maintained a close eye and constant vigil to ensure that I was not engaging in the consumption of a substance that would contraindicate with any of the current medications I was on. It really is very simple, and, should one wind up like another Brittany Murphy, I would highly suggest educating oneself before taking the first dose of any medication, prescription or otherwise. As being the one solely responsible for one's health, we forget that doctors and prescribers make mistakes and it is our duty to ask questions should anything not be made clear.

reply to post by Matthew Dark

Thats fantastic!
You are way ahead of most and what I would consider lucky!
Peace to you and good health!

Oh, btw, do you have any recomend on the bipolar problem one poster mentioned other than what was posted?
I imagine accupunture may work well for that.
As well as water treatments, massage and herbs of course.
Just a thought.
I have not treated that actually.

Some herbs that may be worth a try are:
Nerves, nervous disorders:
skullcap, red sage, horehound,ladys slipper,motherwort,mugwort, marshmallow, poplar bark, catnip, spearmint, camomile, ginger, peach leaves, vervain, blue and black cohosh, usually one teaspoon per cup of boiling water, teaspoon of honey to taste.

Insomnia:
Of course try a warm bath or a footbath first.
ladys slipper, valerian(very good), catnip, skullcap, especially hops!

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not

Oh no!
Did this just turn into another gol' darn 9/11 thread?

Way To Go fellers!

Good one!

reply to post by dodadoom


Well, I might be able to help you but I will not discuss private issues on the board.
I am more than willing to help you with whatever research I can provide.
Keep in mind though, I do not have a license to practice medicine in any of it's forms, so anything I can give you would be under the assumption that 'this is how I would treat myself' as I can not ethically or legally, give you any sort of actual medical advice.

so what,
she ate medicine by her own will, prescribed by a doctor/doctors she at her own free will went to see and now pharm companies are the crocks for the actions she took ?

isnt that like saying that if i buy a box of matches and burn down my house its the matchstick companies fault it burned down ??

sheech, talk about nanny state promoting thread , whats up with you people, have "responcibility for your own actions" left the pages of man kind,..?!

..i just bought a car and crashed it while drunk driving now im gonna sue the tire company for the slippery roads

^headexplodes^

reply to post by zerbot565


Well, aside from the atrocious spelling and grammar, yes, essentially that's what we're saying up here.
And you bring up some good points of which many of us are in agreement with.

reply to post by Matthew Dark

Thats way cool of you!

I wondered how to approach that.
Obviously my new sig takes care of it.
This is strictly my opinion.
I offered to help find some info for a previous poster.
Like you said, the info is out there if they care to look.

Fair enough!
I thank you for your help!


[edit on 27-12-2009 by dodadoom]

reply to post by dodadoom


I appreciate your kind words.
However, I do not engage in these habits to gain praise, I am a care-taker by nature (and honestly, it's a nature I've tried to fight against to no avail, so I have resigned myself to such a fate...) and I would never expect to give advice or treat in such a way anything that I would not give to myself first. Those who work in healthcare are expected to set an example and I intend to bring as much reform as possible as one person can provide.

reply to post by zerbot565

That is exactly the point we all have made already.
Thanks!

Until we find out what killed her for sure we are just speculating.

reply to post by dodadoom


I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that her own stupidity killed her.
Unless there is an indication of foul play, I would hazard to believe that it was poor insight combined with an inherent lapse in good judgement followed by the typical 'I'm a celebrity so I'm invincible' mentality.
Which obviously worked well for people like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger and so forth.

reply to post by Matthew Dark


either the o.p is a genius and pushes the triggers and gets people to write about "truthfull" stuff (mockingbird/project camelot) or the o.p is a promotor for nannystate , its still the same coin no matter what side you look at.

either way it is as simple as that but threads like this pop up so regulary here its sad ,

reply to post by Matthew Dark


Kewl! Thanks for that!
I was wondering also if the fact she was so dang skinny had something to do with it! I thought maybe anyway.
She just didnt seem to have much of a backup, you know?
It looked like she wasnt eating much or had a problem.

Oh thats great you are a vegetarian btw!

On the odd occasion I take an asprin for something I never take even two.
My system wouldnt handle a bunch of drugs anyway....
tums is a hard as I go anymore!

reply to post by dodadoom


malnutrition, muscle relaxants and sleeping pills , 3 strikes and your out ,

her body probobly couldent take the stress from getting of the pills, simple as that, she probobly even did it the hollywood way , 4 weeks on the meds with little food and one week sober thinking that her body would regain stability..

having done this for x ammount of years only leads to a walking living dead.