The Final Words Have Been Said About the Death of Brittany Murphy

AP

Well, it seems like the final words have been said regarding the death of actor Brittany Murphy. The Los Angeles Coroner found that Murphy's weight was in the normal range for her height despite the rumors of an eating disorder. The coroner confirmed Brittany's husband, Simon Monjack's, repeated claims that she did not abuse drugs or alcohol; even though there were high levels of pain medication in her system, as well as over-the-counter cold medicine. In the beginning of this month the coroner stated that Murphy died from pneumonia, with multiple drug intoxication and a low-blood count as contributing factors - the death was believed to be accidental but preventable. Preventable?

It is true that people die from pneumonia every day, actually it can be quite common for elderly people to succumb to it. Brittany was a successful young actor who was reportedly healthy and had no substance abuse or mental disorders. It seems like her death was more than avoidable! If drugs were not an issue, then why did Murphy fill a prescription for 120 Vicodin pills 11 days before her death, and only 11 were left when she was found collapsed in her home. No one seems to know why she was prescribed the medication and the prescribing doctor surprisingly cannot be located. No more than four Vicodins are to be taken daily because of the acetaminophen levels, making the max she should have taken in eleven days would be 44 pills instead of 109. Apparently, to no avail, the coroner's officials have tried to find out from Murphy's husband, Simon Monjack, if he knows anything about the whereabouts of the missing doctor.

It all seems strange that her death is being ruled an accident when it clearly seems like there is more than meets the eye. It saddening that people would try and cover up the truth about the tragic and needless death of a beautiful star; to say that Brittany was struggling with prescription pain medication would be an understatement and Vicodin certainly played a part in her death. We do not honor Murphy's memory by trying to hide the truth about her life.

Vic Chesnutt's Life Was A Life Marked By Tragedy

In the last year there were many important people who passed away as a result of their addictions. Sadly, one of those people went relatively unnoticed; for whatever reason the name Vic Chesnutt and his death went undetected by many in the media. When it came to high profile deaths in 2009, Jackson, DJ AM, Murphy, and Johnson seemed to get all the attention. Vic Chesnutt is not a name that many people know, he was not some mainstream music star; he had yet to win any Grammys at the time of his death and he never invented any dance moves that would end up going down in history. He did, however, touch the lives of many people throughout the music community - singing songs of sadness and inspiration. Vic Chesnutt's life was a life marked by tragedy, creating an uphill battle for Vic's entire life. Not many paid attention to Vic when he was alive, perhaps more will find comfort in his lyricism now that he has passed on.

Chesnutt, a songwriter known for his dark folk music with a touch comedic relief, died on Christmas day in Athens, Georgia. Vic spent several days in a coma that was caused by an overdose of muscle relaxers. When one looks at the surface of this story it does not seem like anything new, another musician loses the battle against drugs and alcohol or they end up taking their own life for a number of emotional reasons. Vic's story is a little bit different and makes one ask the question, "Was Vic Chesnutt overlooked by society?". Vic Chesnutt was born in 1964 in Georgia, at the age of 18 he was involved in a car accident that ended up placing Chesnutt in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Although he was paralyzed from the neck down, he found that he could move his hands enough to play simple cords on his guitar; he invested all of his energy into songwriting. The first two albums Chesnutt ever created were produced by Michael Stipe of R.E.M. "Chesnutt gained national prominence thanks to 1996's Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, which featured Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Garbage and more bands covering his songs to raise money for the Sweet Relief charity, which aids musicians in need of health care", according to Rolling Stone.

At the end of the day, Health Care is what this story is really about. At the time of Chesnutt's death, his medical problems ended up making him a critic of the American health care system. Chesnutt was one of the fortunate Americans to have health insurance; but, he still found himself with $35,000 in medical bills which weighed on the singer heavily. Despite releasing 17 records in his career, Vic was not a rich musician; there is very little money and even less respect in the indie-music scene. It is believed by many that Vic deliberately overdosed because he could no longer deal with the health care system that he was bound to and the insurmountable debt that came along with that system.

He was certainly passed over by Insurance companies, my peers, and even myself; the music industry kept Chesnutt alive and ultimately played a part in his death. I hope that you will take the time to listen to the power of just one of Vic's songs.

"I guess the very emotional nature of my songs attracts emotional people, and they become quite, um, emotional. They come up to me after the shows, and I don't know what to say to them. I dont want to be an asshole or anything, but I think I do my best communicating alone in my room, when I'm writing songs. But I do appreciate them very much. If it wasn't for them, I would've killed myself a long time ago."

Brittany Murphy May Have Followed The Same Path As DJ AM And Michael Jackson

Actor Brittany Murphy, who got her start in the movie Clueless, died of cardiac arrest at her L.A. home Dec. 20 at the age of 32. The original autopsy was finished on December 21st and concluded that Murphy had died of natural causes; however, an investigator's notes in the coroner's office stated that there was a staggering amount of prescription drugs inside Murphy's LA home. "The investigator's notes reveal that Murphy "had been complaining of shortness of breath and severe abdominal pain" for 7 to 10 days before her death", reports the Examiner. A prescription drug overdose is what investigators are now trying to determine as the cause of the cardiac arrest. It will take 4-6 weeks before a toxicology report is completed. What's strange about Murphy's life and death is that she claimed that she never had tried hard drugs and prescription drugs were too powerful, "I am way too high-strung to do drugs. I can't even take a Sudafed. Can you imagine? My God. I think my heart would explode", according to the Examiner. It appears that Brittany Murphy may have followed the same path as DJ AM and Michael Jackson; three, possible prescription drug overdoses amongst stars in 2009.

The investigators' notes stated that the nightstands at the Murphy residence contained large amounts of prescription medications with Murphy's name on the bottles. There were a lot of empty prescription bottles in Brittany's husband, mother, and unidentified third parties' names. Yet, she never used or had a drug problem, she was perhaps able to hide her addiction problems from everyone. The drugs that Brittany had prescriptions for were:

• Topamax (anti-seizure med)
• Methylprednisolone (anti-inflammatory)
• Fluoxetine (depression med)
• Klonopin (anxiety med)
• Carbamazepine (treats diabetic symptoms and is also a bipolar med)
• Ativan (anxiety med)
• Vicoprofen (pain reliever)
• Propranolol (hypertension)
• Biaxin (antibiotic)
• Hydrocodone (pain medication)

It is clear just from that list of drugs that there was a tragedy unfolding in Brittany's life and it inevitably killed her. A beautiful, 32 year old star lost perhaps to the grips of addiction. Prescription medications are just as dangerous and life threatening than drugs that can be found on the street; 2009 has been a year that reminded us that prescription drugs are a clear and present danger. In the next few weeks there will be more developments that come to the surface, we will have a better understanding as people come forward - someone had to be aware of Murphy's addiction problems.