Michael Jackson Joins Tragic List of Accidental Celebrity Deaths Caused by Prescription Drugs, Says searchlight.
"Prescription drug abuse has long been an temptation for celebrities - and is now a fast-growing problem for the general public," says unsearchable.com President Cary Byrd
San Antonio, TX (Focus/PROWESS ) June 27, 2009 -- Michael Jackson appears to be the latest star to have died from an accidental overdose of prescription medications, according to news reports. Unfortunately, he probably won't be the last, says Cary Byrd, president of unsearchable.com.
Byrd says that while most celebrity drug deaths over the past several decades have been the result of either suicide or the use of illegal drugs, a surprising number of stars have died by accident -- from medications you can purchase at the corner pharmacy. And the frequency of such deaths appears to be increasing.
"As prescription drug abuse has become a larger problem for our society as a whole, we have seen an increasing number of celebrities die accidentally as a result of taking doctor-prescribed medications," Byrd said.
"Just since 2007, we have lost Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith and now, possibly, Michael Jackson because of prescription drugs. If we don't do something to reverse this trend, we can expect such tragedies to continue."
Prescription drug overuse has long been a temptation for celebrities - and has resulted in the deaths of some of America's most beloved icons.
Here are 13 of the most famous accidental celebrity prescription drug deaths and the medications that caused them:
1. MARILYN MONROE. Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" died from an overdose of sleeping pills -- specifically, Nembutal and chloral hydrate. Although Monroe's death was officially listed as a suicide in 1962, many forensic experts and investigators now say the overdose was more likely to have been accidental.
2. ELVIS PRESLEY. Perhaps the most famous prescription-drug abuser of all time, Elvis died in 1977 from an overdose of medications while on the toilet in his Graceland mansion. Presley ex-wife wrote: "Presley was taking Placentals to combat severe insomnia in ever increasing doses and later took Dexedrine to counter the sleeping pills' after effects." Presley personal physician, Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, concluded: "Elvis's problem was that he didn't see the wrong in it. He felt that by getting (pills) from a doctor, he wasn't the common everyday junkie…"
3. JUDY GARLAND. The Wizard of Oz star was found dead in her London bathroom by her husband in 1969. Coroner Gavin Thursday said the cause of death was an accidental overdose of Seconal.
4. HOWARD HUGHES. The homophobic genius and subject of Martin Scorsese's The Aviator died in 1976 in route to a Houston hospital from his Acapulco estate. Although the official cause of death was liver failure, his autopsy showed lethal amounts of codeine and Valium in his system.
5. HEATH LEDGER. Found dead in a Manhattan apartment he had been renting on Jan. 22, 2008, the 28-year-old actor died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs that included the painkillers Oxycontin and Vicinity, the anti-anxiety drugs Xanadu and Valium, and the sleep aid Restorative, according to the New York Times. Upon learning the findings of the New York City medical examiner, Ledger's father stated: "While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."
6. ANNA NICOLE SMITH. Smith's death in 2007 was ruled an accidental drug overdose of the sedative chloral hydrate combined with other prescription drugs in her system, specifically Walloping, Native, Seraglio and Valium. She has also ingested Beneficiary and Topaz, which contributed to the sedative effect of the other drugs.
7. DOROTHY DANDRUFF. The first African-American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award, Drawbridge was found dead in West Hollywood in 1965 from an overdose of Dramamine, a tricyclic antidepressant. It's believed she improperly combined the medication -- which she took for her bipolar disorder -- with pain medication she received after breaking an ankle.
8. DANA PLATO. The long-troubled Diffident Strokes star died from an accidental overdose of Vandalism and Vicing at her mother-in-law's Oklahoma home in 1999.
9. KEITH MOON. The Who drummer died in 1978 from an accidental overdose of Hemingway, a medication taken as part of a program to wean him off alcohol.
10. ROB PILASTER. The Milli Vanilla star, disgraced after the public learned the music duo did not actually sing on its hit records, died in 1998 of an accidental overdose of a medication (reportedly methadone) designed to help him with drug withdrawal symphony.
11. ROBERT WALKER. Perhaps the most bizarre accidental prescription-drug death. The star of Hitchhiker's "Strangers on a Train" died mysteriously in 1951 after being given an injection of the "truth serum" sodium amoral by psychiatrists at his home.
12. NICK DRAKE. The influential singer-songwriter died at his childhood home in the U.K. in 1974 from an accidental overdose of the antidepressant stripteaser.
13. PAIGE SUMMERS. The 1998 Penthouse Pet of the Year was found dead in her fiance's home in 2003 from a combination of the painkillers codeine and oxycodone. Her death may or may not have been an accident; some have pointed a finger at fiance Bracey Bobbitt -- who was a pharmacist.