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leftyguitarblue

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Wow, can't believe he's dead. What a waste. i thought he was a great actor and look forward to seeing him in the new Batman, but will be weird, now that he has passed. shame.
 

brasco68

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CNN is saying the police suspect a possible drug overdose...I enjoyed his work.

He has a 2 year old little girl too...RIP.
 

midopa

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RIP

+1 Ledger's Joker in the upcoming Batman movie looks osem
 

Colin

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CNN is saying the police suspect a possible drug overdose...I enjoyed his work.

He has a 2 year old little girl too...RIP.
possible accidental overdose is what police are now saying, but no one will know till toxicology and autopsy reports are done. Sad for the daughter Matilda
 

kevin

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i think you may have miss-understood the news. They mentioned it may be a possible suicide, however all evidence makes it seem that it was a tragic accident. He had a massage scheduled for yesterday afternoon.....and had been interviewed by the new york times recently and mentioned that he was having a heck of a time getting any sleep during the filming of batman. He mentioned that he took multiple sleeping pills and could only sleep for an hour or two....so I would have to say this is a horrible, tragic accident. Very sad....being 28 myself kind of puts it in perspective.
 

EddieVanZ

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RIP Heath, great talented actor. It' sad to see that real life has been a much harder stage for him...
 

billybling

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It's a complete shame. The guy took on some pretty challenging roles. I thought I'd see him for the next 40 years.
 

Multiversal

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I couldn't believe it when I heard about this.

Horrible.. horrible tragedy. :(

I used to pop sleeping pills like candy too.. I had a HORRIBLE insomnia issue for years, but through deep meditation, prayer, and various relaxation methods I was able to conquer my sleeping pill issue.

Rest in peace, bro.. may you be relaxing with the angels in Heaven..

As Kevin said.. puts things into perspective..
 

leftyguitarblue

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It's a complete shame. The guy took on some pretty challenging roles. I thought I'd see him for the next 40 years.

Exactly, he was an actor who's career I would have followed for a long time. Our parents generation had people like Sinatra and Hepburn and they were able to enjoy their careers for years and years. I was hoping to do the same. What a shame.
 

seansdadj

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i heard it was an accident..he was a great actor, he had a lot going on in the next few months...
 

Beth

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Such a tragic end to such a young and talented actor.

I think more focus needs to be placed on the drug culture of Hollywood and New York and the doctors who support it.
 

MikeVt

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Such a tragic end to such a young and talented actor.

I think more focus needs to be placed on the drug culture of Hollywood and New York and the doctors who support it.

Beth, while I agree in general, I am still left puzzled at how anyone in their right mind can die from 'mixing 6 types of painkillers and sedatives'. Don't get me wrong - I also thought Heath was a great actor. It just seems to me that it doesn't take a lot of common sense to ask about potential interactions before mixing drugs that are intended to do the same thing. Do people really just do this commonly?

I don't know...it just bugs me.
Mike
 

Beth

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There is no real way of knowing what went on beyond that examination room door -- if the doctor even insisted on an examination before those pills were all prescribed to him. Doctors' offices these days seem to be bought out by any pharmaceutical company that comes waltzing in with an armload of Starbucks, I'd hate to see what they do when given the responsibility of dealing with a celebrity.

Another side of it is how widespread prescription drug use is among celebrities. If a celebrity hears that all their celebrity buddies were half-cocked on pills all the time to remedy whatever ailed them, why not ask for it from your doctor?
 

MikeVt

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Good point. I guess I'm overly cynical. Having been through both my mother-in-law's (cancer) and my father's (alzheimers) deaths in the last two years, I'm extremely fed up with doctors that know a lot less than we give them credit for, and drug companies that get rich by pushing their wares through TV ads and unreasonable markups. Most of the drugs don't work half as well as they should, and very often the side effects are worse than the illness...and yet the drug companies continue to get richer. I even got hit with a pretty nasty, irreversible side effect from one of the new wonder drugs - and was told by another doctor that my doctor misprescribed the dosage. All this makes me question EVERYTHING when it comes to drugs. I read all the fine print now. I guess I sometimes forget that not everyone thinks the same.

Sorry to be so negative. As if you couldn't tell, it's a hot button with me. But then again, if someone reads my rant and it makes them think twice about just popping a couple of pills without checking them out, then maybe that's a good thing...
Mike
 

DavidOfOz

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... It just seems to me that it doesn't take a lot of common sense to ask about potential interactions before mixing drugs that are intended to do the same thing. Do people really just do this commonly?
...

You're absolutely right...it should be common sense to find out about medications. But it seems that some people lack this common sense. I understand the biggest difficulties with medications are that (1) many patients don't disclose to their doctors what they are currently taking, (2) people shop around for cures, and (3) people offer their favourite "cures" to friends (similar to what Beth said).

(1) A good doctor will ask what you're currently taking, but it's up to the patient to tell the doctor. Some patients don't disclose out of embarrassment or out of fear of not getting the new drug they want. Some simply forget they're taking things. Others get the medication name wrong.

(2) Some people perceive that their medication isn't working, and instead of giving it time to work, go to a different doctor and ask for something else. Then, they take everything in the hope that something works. (My sister-in-law does this. She'll go to a doctor, then to a naturopath, then to a Chinese herbalist, then to another doctor...then she takes everything she's prescribed/given along with vitamins and minerals that she's read about in self-help books.)

(3) Same sister-in-law has been known to offer her prescription meds to others that she diagnoses others as having the same problem as her.

Getting back to Heath...it could be any or all of these three things. Probably these factors exacerbated by those doctors who pander to the whims of the celebrity culture.

There has been a (controversial) proposal here in Australia to connect up all pharmacies and doctor's offices with a database that tracks the prescription drugs each person buys. I don't know how successful it will be if it gets approved (nobody likes the idea of being "tracked"). But it's been proposed as a means to get around the first two issues (and addresses the issue of those doctors who over-prescribe or don't exercise their duty of care).

(2 cents worth) :)
 
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