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.

Heroin Drug Abuse Among Teens and Young Adults

Heroin has been sweeping through the suburbs of New York City and is becoming a fast growing trend throughout the northeast. Despite the introduction of cutting agents, chemicals that dilute the strength of the drug providing a bigger yield, toady's heroin happens to be stronger and cheaper than it once was. People are struggling to figure the cause of this new wave of heroin drug abuse among teens and young adults, heroin is commonly thought of only being used by the "low of the low"; this misconception has allowed teen drug habits to progress unchecked, heroin is just such an unbelievable drug for teens to be experimenting with.

Bags of heroin for street purchase are usually marked with a skull and cross bones or words like "Kiss of Death" and "R.I.P". "A bag of heroin can sell for $5 to $25 and induce a six- to eight-hour high, according to officials and former users. Cocaine, by comparison, can cost $40 to $60 for a 30-minute high, while prescription painkillers like Vicodin or OxyContin sell for upward of $40 a pill on the street. The heroin available in the Northeast these days is purer than the kind that ravaged New York City in the 1970s, experts say, and almost certainly as lethal, if not more", according to the New York Times. It is thought that the lethality of the drug plays a large role in teenagers' attraction to it; the idea of cheating death and a sense of invisibility among teens draws many to the drug. According to Bridget G. Brennan, New York City's special narcotics prosecutor, "recent drug raids of so-called heroin mills have yielded hundreds of thousands of bags at a time, up from several hundred bags a year ago".

People are overdosing and dying all over the northeast, many times before anyone even knew they was an addiction problem occurring. In Nassau County, Long Island 25 people died of overdoses just in the first 6 months of 2009; it appears that the number of heroin related overdoses has been doubling every year, making clear the heroin should be a major concern amongst parents, even those in upper-middle class suburbs. Once the hand of heroin addiction grabs a hold of someone, it unfortunately takes repeated pain and suffering before the addict will even consider the remote possibility of seeking out recovery. Very few people have ever managed to "kick" heroin on their own, treatment is usually the only route to freedom with such a powerful drug; often heroin addicts end up checking into treatment multiple times in their life before sobriety sticks to them.

Maine has Turned to California for Help Setting up a Medical Marijuana Program

Maine has turned to California for help setting up a medical marijuana program; the hope is that they will be able to implement what has worked well in the past. With over 10 years of experience in California they have had plenty of time to make mistakes and to have hopefully learned from them; considering that we are on the edge of what appears to be full on legalization in the next five years. Maine proceeds cautiously into this new territory, hopes to figure out a system that addresses both public safety and the needs of those recommended patients for marijuana. Maine is trying to avoid the craziness that exists out west, dispensaries opening and closing daily and it doesn't seem like any one really understands what is happening - in short the west has become a mess. A task force has been set up, "figuring out how many medical marijuana patients there are in Maine and how many distribution clinics or dispensaries are needed to serve them. At least one member of the panel said he's not sure if the state needs one, 10 or 50", according to ABC News. The task force is composed of 14 members, they will determine rules effective within 120 days; the task force hopes to be able to take every factor into account in order to give the voters exactly what they voted for. Becky DeKeuster, of the Berkeley Patients Group said, "This should not have a negative connotation. This is a medicine. This is essentially a pharmacy with a community center component in our model".

If marijuana is going to be considered a medicine then it needs to be held to the same standards as every other pharmaceutical, the same laws and restrictions should apply to weed as they do to Vicodin. There is no other way to make this a legitimate program, therein lies a huge problem with the legality of marijuana; some are trying to have a medicine and others are trying to have a recreational drug, like alcohol. The same people who are helping Maine set up a medical marijuana program are also trying to have full on legalization voted on in the next year in California. It is noteworthy that Maine is taking the time to create a successful program, but it seems like all of this is a slippery slope and no matter what, all the factors present cannot be addressed. "This task force is not going to be able to accomplish the dotting of every 'I' and the crossing of every 'T', but addressing the issues ahead of time is crucial so that you don't end up with a wild-west situation", DeKeuster said.

Nursing Home Residents Who Need Pain Drugs

The war on drugs has totally disrupted the health care system in America. Patients and seniors in long-term-care facilities are having trouble getting pain medication; serious delays are causing needless suffering. A number of staff members working in nursing homes steal the patients pain medication to sell or use; the DEA in response now requires doctor's signatures along with a sleuth of other approvals when pain medication is ordered. The Washington Post reports that lawmakers have become concerned and, "wrote to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. this month, urging that the Obama administration issue new directives to the DEA and support a possible legislative fix for the problem, which has bothered nursing home administrators and geriatric experts for years". There doesn't seem to be an easy solution to this problem; on the one hand there are not enough doctors to be around every nursing home at all times, on the other a serious number of prescription pain medications such as: morphine, Oxycontin, Percocet, and Vicodin are being stolen. How to secure the distribution of opiates and provide nursing home residents who need pain drugs in a timely matter is the question?

Pharmacies that provide pain medication to nurses without all the approvals in order face tens of thousands of dollars in fines. "The system is broken. It isn't working, and patients are suffering," said Claudia Schlosberg, director of policy and advocacy for the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. "While we need to ensure there are proper controls on the medications, the overall law enforcement concern has to be compatible with meeting patients' needs, and right now it's not", according to the Washington Post. Scholsberg has a good point, patients' rights need to prevail over all else, there obviously needs to be some restrictions but they can't get in the way of a patients' well being. Nobody would want their loved ones to suffer while in the care of someone else, it just is not acceptable.

It does not seem right that the war on pain has to suffer from the war on drugs; I guess that is war though, they are usually not fair. Nurses and doctors cannot effectively manage their patients' pain as a result of the Drug Enforcement Agencies strict policies. Hopefully, a compromise can be found that will stop all the delays and still monitor the drugs in order to keep them off the streets.