Are Heath Ledger's Autopsy Results a Coverup?

whatever the cause, i'd like to just second a comment that Joel McHale said at the end of a recent The Soup episode. In case you're not familiar with it, they make fun of TV/Movies/Hollywood/etc.

reply to post by forestlady

This question was posted to suggest a cover up. The events and facts leading up to Heaths death can suggest what I have already stated, regardless of your personal feelings about him.

Many people are typically undiagnosed with bipolar. Many parents and family may not even notice the clues. If anyone possibly knows for sure besides Heath, it just may be the Olsen girls.
Hollywood people apparently have their cliques and various methods also. But, Heath should have had some type of therapist with the pressures he was under anyway. He may have been a very private and proud person who didn't want others to know.


Here's a site on some of what I was referring to.

www.healthatoz.com.../healthatoz/Atoz/ency/hallucinations.jsp

This isn't just about Heath Ledger, it's about everyday people as well.

Besides, I'm not parroting the news media. This is from personal experience also and it's just a suggestion and plausable scenerio.

Awww, bummer! I was just in town and saw him on the cover of (a few!) tabloid newspapers with the dreaded "addiction" slogan above his head plastered (in red print).

How could anyone NOT have realized that THAT many different drugs is too much?

It makes the news when it's a celebrity, but the sad fact is: Addiction is one of the major problems in America today.

If I could ask any of the politicians running for office right now only one question, it would concern the crisis of addiction in America today.

It isn't just prescription drugs (or otherwise) -- you'd be amazed at the number of alcohol related deaths that occur EVERY year on college campuses.

[edit on 6-2-2008 by themillersdaughter]

According to TMZ ( ) the DEA is now looking into his death:

www.tmz.com...

Feds Want to Know How Heath Got His Meds
Posted Feb 6th 2008 3:25PM by TMZ Staff

The feds are trying to figure out how Heath Ledger got all the prescriptions for the dangerous combination of painkillers and sedatives that led to his accidental overdose.

TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration has launched an investigation into how Ledger got prescriptions, if in fact they were prescriptions. According to officials, the DEA has requested copies of Ledger's autopsy as well as the original police report from the crime scene. The NYC medical examiner said this morning that he found the cause of death to be a lethal array of opiates and benzodiazepines; oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine.

[edit on 6-2-2008 by greeneyedleo]

My answer...who cares. Let the man rest in peace and have some respect. Do we have to delve into his drug addiction? For what purpose? I'm sorry, but I think this thread is silly.

[edit on 6-2-2008 by Silenceisall]

Originally posted by greeneyedleo

benzodiazepines; oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine.

Honestly, the fact that all those were "allegedly" found in his system is mind-boggling to me. If that is fact, then he took them all within a few minutes before any of them took effect. That would lead me to believe it was a suicide. If he took them over a period of time, I just don't see how that's physically possible.

And let's not turn this into a "I've done that before and it's no big deal" thread. I'll be watching the drug discussion in this thread like a hawk.

Peace

The key thing is here that we do not know if these drugs were perscribed. I am a morgue diener at the Medical Examiner's office here in town. These cases happen all the time. IMO, there is no need for coverup here. People need to understand that everyone's body reacts differently to drugs. If these were not prescribed to him, then he was taking a big risk that he himself knew could potentially kill him. You have to realize that fame, money, attention usually drive people to take excessive amounts of drugs/alcohol in these situations. I do not think that this would benefit anyone as a cover up against drug companies. Trust me, I am no lobbyist for drug companies by any means. They are all crooks IMO. But, you have to consider the facts of Heath's lifestyle. These kinds of drugs are available to anyone very easily. I do not think that any doctor would knowingly prescribe him all of these medications. For all we know, he has had these drugs around from different times in his life. Or, he could have bought them from somebody and just decided to end it all. It all boils down to the facts that we will never know. And to be honest, do we really deserve to know just because he was an actor. Right to privacy in the medical field is a really big issue. The law behind it is called HIPPA. We are not even allowed to talk about a patient with a coworker while on lunch or in elevator, etc. So, I say we let the guy RIP and let his family grieve in piece. It is a sad and tragis loss for them and the movie community. But, this kind of thing happens on a regular basis and we should not be surprised. We just do not hear about it unless it is someone famous or of reletive importance.

[edit on 2/6/2008 by palehorse23]

Originally posted by palehorse23
So, I say we let the guy RIP and let his family grieve in piece.

I agree, but with fame comes the devil IMO. Nobody put a gun to anyone's head.

Peace

Originally posted by Dr Love

Originally posted by palehorse23
So, I say we let the guy RIP and let his family grieve in piece.

I agree, but with fame comes the devil IMO. Nobody put a gun to anyone's head.

Yeah, if you try to make a living doing something that will make you interesting to a lot of strangers, it's pretty hard to for you to tell them only to be interested up to a point, then stop. Legally, there are certain situations and places where we all have "reasonable expectation of privacy," but when you're famous, you should reasonably expect your privacy to be impinged upon.

He and his family will be left in peace as soon as people forget him, which doesn't take long these days. He was an okay actor, but he wasn't mythic like James Dean or even John Belushi. More like Brandon Lee, or maybe River Phoenix. They were forgotten relatively quickly.

[edit on 6-2-2008 by Nohup]

reply to post by Dr Love

Honestly, the fact that all those were "allegedly" found in his system is mind-boggling to me. If that is fact, then he took them all within a few minutes before any of them took effect. That would lead me to believe it was a suicide. If he took them over a period of time, I just don't see how that's physically possible.

He could have taken any of them within 48 hours. He did not necessarily have to take them all at the same time for them to show up in his system.

Actually these drugs could be detected much longer than 48 hours later depending on the test that are ran.

Benzodiazepines are fat soluble and do enter fatty tissues including the brain. But these tissues are in equilibrium with the blood, so that if the concentration in the blood is lower than that in fat, some will come out of the fat and re-enter the blood where it is metabolised and excreted. This will again lower the blood concentration, so more will leach out of the fat, and so on. So the body is more or less cleared, even of long half-life benzodiazepines, within 30 days.

Link

[edit on 6-2-2008 by Digital_Reality]

No offense to Mr. Ledger and his family, I am sorry he passed, but the only person or thing to really blame on his death is his own personal demons. No one forced him to take the drugs nor work himself into such a depressive state that he felt the need to unsoundly medicate himself. He is ultimately to blame for what happend to him. Why do we as a society make excuses for very poor behavior simply because someone is famous? Nobody would give a rat's behind if it was your neighbor. Stop making excuses for very bad personal choices. Yes, it's sad that it happened, but that kind of thing happens all around the country everyday and nobody sheds a tear for all those other people.

It's very plain and simple - it's called Doctor shopping. When HL first died, they said some scrips were from New York and some from a Doctor overseas.

A Doctor doesn't give xanax and valium at the same time. It just doesn't happen, if it does there is usually two Doctors involved and they are not being informed by the patient of their recent medical history.

Don't get me wrong, HL was a fine actor but I saw a interview he gave less than six weeks before he died and he was all over the place. He couldn't keep his arms still, they were flailing around. He was agitated and he was itching. It was very obvious to me he was on percocet or something. I wasn't one bit surprised when they listed hydracodone as one of the drugs. I was surprised he was taking oxicotton.

People with severe pain and cancer take oxicotton. Why the hell is this man on oxicotton?

It sounds like this man was in a vicious cycle of being hyped up on pain pills and then attempting to come down with the others. Oxicotton sell on the street here in Ohio for $50 a piece. It's a current choice drug among many and there are many deaths as a result. They are not only popping them, but they are snorting and injecting them to get that ultimate high.

WHO CARES!!! I can't believe this is on ATS this belongs in the trash bin.

Heath Ledger's death just so happend to coincide with the postponement of President Bush's ad campaign aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse:


Quote: 'WASHINGTON (AP) — The death of Heath Ledger prompted the White House to postpone President Bush's event Wednesday promoting an ad campaign aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse.

Ledger, 28, who was nominated for an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," was found dead Tuesday in his New York apartment. There were sleeping pills near him, but the cause of his death remains under investigation.

The president was to make a statement in the Roosevelt Room on the Office of National Drug Control Policy's television advertisement about preventing prescription drug abuse. A federally financed study released in December at the White House showed illicit drug use by teens continued to gradually decline overall this year, but the use of prescription painkillers remained popular among young people.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush's event had been scheduled for a while.

"We thought it would be better to postpone the event rather than run the risk of anyone thinking that we were being opportunistic in highlighting the issue," she said.'

ap.google.com...

Originally posted by annestacey

Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine,"

Jesus Christ. That combination would kill a horse. Or a Limbaugh. That poor man. I hate to see people go through this, but it is a part of human nature...

Didn't he recently divorce?
And wasn't he going through a custody battle for his daughter?
If so I completely understand why he was so Medicated...
I can't use my D.O.C. right now (for the same reasons) so I drink... which is friggin depressing in and of itself. If I had HALF of those pills in my system I would DEFINITELY be dead. Pot should be legal. This crap shouldn't be.

reply to post by UScitizen

If you don't like it... Don't read it. Nobody stuck your nose in this thread.

Jeez Man... A child's father is dead... and you don't even care? what kind of person can't separate death from celebrity? Maybe if I posted about my Grandfather dying from degradation to his system from Alcohol abuse in the past, you would say who cares too? Well... I DO... and even worse... it is extremely questionable whether or not OVERT PRESCRIPTIONS killed him, or if it was intentional over medication to ease the pain. If it is the first... IT IS ATS worthy news.

kinda like thimerosal (Mercury) in our children's Vaccines. We can either warn one another... or we can face the repercussions or blind ignorance.

Originally posted by Silenceisall
My answer...who cares. Let the man rest in peace and have some respect. Do we have to delve into his drug addiction? For what purpose? I'm sorry, but I think this thread is silly.

[edit on 6-2-2008 by Silenceisall]

Partly. The conspiracy aspect is not backed up with anything as far as I can see. The only conspiracy behind all this is a mega pharma industry that feeds on our nerves.

I care for all the people that still take drugs to lower anxieties.
You are alive. Anxiety is part of that. Don't try to be cool. Show you nervousness. Is is part of being an animal in this jungle.

On the other hand you can try the natural thing. Run, get your body moving that helps. And meditate, most anxieties are ego-structured. Once you learn that you are truly nothing and let go, everything is OK. It maybe a quantum leap for actors though.

Originally posted by UScitizen
WHO CARES!!! I can't believe this is on ATS this belongs in the trash bin.

I ABSOLUTELY agree...........and I will add this.


His parents accept that it was accidental, and ask that.."ALL SPECULATION CEASE " and thats a quote.

Maybe we should.... and give the man his dignity.

Because the family is Aussie, we hear their side.

Regards

Mungo ( yep..... a proud Aussie )

I still don't believe he's actually dead. He could be on an island somewhere with Elvis, Biggie, Tupac, and Kurt Cobain and they're all drinking tropical drinks and getting fat checks from the government to stay hidden and keep on partying.

Is this a coverup??? Why the hell would it be? I am a former pill addict and all I can say is he took a combination of those drugs to mess him up... Im sure he took that same combo numerous times... He had a respiratory illness at the same time he took them so I am sure that contributed to it... And yes, the doctors should be help acccountable if ell the drugs came from him or her...

He battled heroin and coc aine addiction for the past few years... it's another case of a talented and highly respected individual in HollyWood who died too young...

But a coverup? Come on now, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. The same toxicology report that was made public was given to his parents... This post gets two thumbs down.

[edit on 7-2-2008 by gabriel5578]