Heath Ledger is dead!

[Dread]

Yep, more than happy to take back my original post. I heard pills and dead celebrity and just lashed out. Happy to recant and wait until all the facts are in. Feel free to delete my post or keep it up to remind my of my impulsive stupidity. I had a friend attempt with pills last year so this hit a nerve I guess.

If some one could clarify for me though, they are saying accidental but there were pills spilled on the floor. Wouldn't that indicate some type of binge, not 'the label states take 2, I really need sleep so I'll take 6' sort of thing? But then if he was sick and he took only a mild amount over it could have a really bad effect, if he was already weak from illness. But would that be straight away, causing the 'spilled pills'.

The interview they posted had him talking about taking 2 ambien and only sleeping for two hours. Some people, myself included, are unaffected by sleeping pills. Due to the mixture of pneumonia, probably a half dozen sleeping pills and ZERO medical guidance for someone who obviously needed it, he died. It's a fucking shame.

Fuck Warren Ellis for pissing on his grave before any information came out. He wasn't man enough to admit his mistake like Max beyond a "I get carried away."

[Malpractice]

I fully understand the "dead celebrity plus spilled pills equals OD / suicide" thinking, but the pills could have been knocked over as he fell to his death. Or he dropped them earlier, fully intending to pick them up, but never got the chance.

i believe it has been confirmed that this cavalcade of pills spilled all around Heath was actually one bottle of prescription meditcation still sealed on his nightstand next to him.

[Missy]

Fuck Warren Ellis for pissing on his grave before any information came out. He wasn't man enough to admit his mistake like Max beyond a "I get carried away."

What did Ellis say?

[Dread]

bad signal

WARREN ELLIS

New record for the internet: the sick jokes started within

seven femtoseconds of the announcement of his death.

In case you've been unplugged today -- Heath Ledger's

dead. In case you missed the details, he was found

naked in Mary-Kate Olsen's Manhattan apartment,

pills scattered around his body and dead as fucking

hell of a cardiac arrest most probably induced by an

overdose.

I like to think that, in his final hours, he sat there and

considered: I'm definitely going to kill myself, but how

can I give it that extra edge that the media love? How

about.. I break into the home of a beloved one-time child

actress, take off all my clothes and rub myself all

over her bed first? Yes, that's the ticket, no better

way to completely fuck up the life of my two-year-old

daughter than to leave behind a Legendary Sleazy

Suicide... what the hell, Cobain's kid will probably be

selling her Vicodin in a few years anyway...

Heath Ledger, then. Entered film like a lion. Left the

world like a limp prick with spots on it.

-- W

[Missy]

[ragernok2002]

I've lost a lot of respect for Ellis for those comments.

[Blane]

What the hell is the point of those comments anyway? Like really? What makes you originally make that post?

[Missy]

What the hell is the point of those comments anyway? Like really? What makes you originally make that post?

Though I might like Ellis' writing, he tries way too hard to be funny with crap like this. He needs to get over himself.

[Chops]

Wow, that was just retarded. He didn't break in, he was nude because a massuese was coming over, so many things wrong with that post.

[MaxPower]

Just to continue my backflip. I'm not reading, watching or listening to anything Heath Ledger related. The media are parasitic leeches with no respect for anyone. When I got home last night, I flicked on the TV and there was footage of Heath Ledger being wheeled out of the building and in to the waiting ambulance. There would have been at least 50 people on the sidewalk taking photo's of it. Seriously, when the fuck did a person's death become a visual news piece. I understand if you want to report it, but what fucking benefit is there to show people images of it on the 6 o'clock news? What?? And I flick on the TV this morning and one of the morning shows has sent their host to the US to cover this. Seriously, once again I ask the question, what is the benefit of doing this. The media can go to fucking hell.

R.I.P. Mr Ledger.

[Missy]

Now you see why I don't watch the news.

[JackFetch]

Lots of incorrect facts about what happened came out in the first 24 hours.

It wasn't in Mary Kate Olsen's apartment, it was his.

The pills were still in the bottles, not strewn around the room.

He was still in bed in a normal sleeping position, not on the floor.

These new news sources like TMZ should be held to the same standards as everyone else when it comes to getting things wrong. Instead, they post rumors as fact, and those rumors get picked up by real news companies. We went through this in the 80s with the National Enquirer and other tabloid papers.

Of course after ripping TMZ, I'm going to quote them:

NYPD sources tell TMZ that nearly full pill bottles containing the anti-anxiety medications Alprazolam (Xanax), Diazepam (Valium) and Lorazepam (Ativan) were found in the apartment. The sleeping medication Zoplicone (Lunesta) and the sedative Temazepam (Restoril) -- which is used by people with "debilitating insomnia" -- were also found.

All of the drugs were prescribed to Ledger.

Exactly what I thought. Anyone that assumed he was a drug addict or committed suicide should be ashamed for jumping to conclusions.

[Blane]

Oh come on. Like a celebrity in his prime dies randomly and you AREN'T going to assume suicide or OD? Sorry but that's the way it goes. It's nothing to be ashamed. It was shoddy reporting, yes. But people aren't shameful for going for what was in almost every other case the most likely cause.

[Missy]

Accidental pill overdose killed Ledger

By AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner said Wednesday.

The cause of death was "acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine," spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement.

The drugs are the generic names for the painkiller OxyContin, the anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom. Hydrocodone is a widely used prescription painkiller.

Borakove wouldn't say what concentrations of each drug were found in Ledger's blood, or whether one drug played a greater part than another in causing his death.

"What you're looking at here is the cumulative effects of these medications together," she said.

The ruling comes two weeks after the 28-year-old Australian-born actor was found dead in the bed of his rented SoHo apartment. Police found bottles of six types of prescription drugs, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication, in his bedroom and bathroom.

Ledger was discovered by his masseuse on Jan. 22 after she arrived for an appointment that afternoon. She entered his bedroom to set up for the massage and found him unresponsive, and proceeded to call Mary-Kate Olsen three times over the next 9 minutes before dialing 911. Ledger had been dead for some time, and police say no foul play occurred.

Ledger, nominated for an Oscar for his role in "Brokeback Mountain," had returned to New York from London days before his death, where he had been filming a $30 million Terry Gilliam film. He said in a November interview that his most recent completed roles in the Batman movie "The Dark Night" and Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" had taken a toll, saying he couldn't sleep.

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he had taken two Ambien pills, which only gave him an hour of sleep.

Ledger's family returned to the actor's hometown of Perth, Australia on Tuesday to prepare for his funeral. Arrangements were private.

In a statement released through Ledger's publicist, Ledger's father, Kim, said Wednesday: "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."

[James D.]

God damn it.

[Dread]

That is sad.

[Chops]

That's a lot of shit to mix just for insomnia.

[Missy]

Only two of the meds are for insomnia, the others were for depression, anxiety and other conditions.

[Chops]

Oh, I know that. I was inferring that this seems far he needed them, in the way the news is reporting it. Mixing that many pain killers, sleep aids and meds sound more like the actions of a drug addict than someone taking them for their medicinal purposes.

[Missy]

Official: Olsen seeks immunity in Ledger probe

By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Federal investigators want to question Mary-Kate Olsen about how Heath Ledger got two powerful painkillers that contributed to his accidental overdose death, but she's refusing to talk without immunity, a law enforcement official said Monday.

Olsen's lawyer has twice refused requests for her to speak with investigators, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. The lawyer, Michael C. Miller, said the "Full House" actress has nothing to do with the drugs, and has already told the government everything she knows.

"We have provided the government with relevant information including facts in the chronology of events surrounding Mr. Ledger's death," Miller said in a statement Monday, "and the fact that Ms. Olsen does not know the source of the drugs Mr. Ledger consumed."

The official confirmed a report that Olsen wants a promise of immunity from prosecution before speaking to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Olsen was a close friend of Ledger's, and was the first person called by a masseuse who found the 28-year-old "Dark Knight" actor's lifeless body in his Manhattan apartment.

Authorities have obtained a subpoena that could force Olsen to appear before a grand jury if negotiations with her lawyer fail, the official said. Other potential witnesses all have answered questions voluntarily, including doctors, Ledger's ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams and anyone who was in his apartment around the time of his death, the official added.

DEA investigators suspect the painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone found in Ledger's system were obtained with phony prescriptions or other illegal means, the official said. Oxycodone is sold as OxyContin; and hydrocodone as Vicodin.

The other drugs, including anti-anxiety medication and sleeping pills, were prescribed legally by doctors in California and Texas, the official said.

The medical examiner's office wouldn't say what concentrations of each drug was found, but made clear he was killed by the combination — not an excess of any one drug in particular. It's common for the DEA to investigate an overdose death with so many different drugs involved, spokesman Garrison Courtney said last month.

The DEA's New York office declined comment on the stalemate with Olsen, which was first reported Monday by the New York Post. There was no immediate response to a message left with a spokeswoman for Olsen.

The masseuse discovered Ledger's body on Jan. 22. Police say she spent nine minutes making three calls to Olsen before dialing 911 for help, then called the actress a fourth time after paramedics arrived. At some point during the flurry of frantic calls, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help, police said.

Shortly after the Australian-born actor's death, Olsen issued a statement that read: "Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss."

[James D.]

You've got to be kidding me.

[Dan]

I am officially not surprised by anything anymore.

[slothian]

Mary-Kate Olsen and drugs?!?!? Who'dathunkit?

I think it's generally accepted that Ledger's death was nothing more than a tragic, tragic accident so this kind of statement just dredges up the worst of the tabloid gossip-mongering that happened back in January.

[JackFetch]

Federal prosecutors have decided not to pursue a criminal case into how Heath Ledger obtained the powerful painkillers that contributed to his overdose death this year, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.

Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan had been overseeing a Drug Enforcement Administration probe into whether the painkillers found in Ledger's system were obtained illegally. But the prosecutors have bowed out "because they don't believe there's a viable target," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no charges have been filed.

The decision comes after recent reports that actress Mary-Kate Olsen was demanding immunity before answering questions about the startling death of her close friend and his drug use. Authorities say she was the first person called by a masseuse who found the 28-year-old "Dark Knight" actor's lifeless body in his Manhattan apartment.

The DEA had obtained a subpoena that could have forced Olsen if she continued to hold out. But the subpoena, issued in April, is no longer valid because it was contingent upon prosecutors pursuing the case, the official said Wednesday. The official added that the case could still be revived if evidence of a crime emerges.

Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, said it's the office's policy to "neither confirm nor deny the existance of an investigation." There was no immediate response to a message left for Olsen's attorney, Michael C. Miller.

http://www.comics2film.com/index.php?a=story&b=35073

Unfortunately this is going to follow Mary-Kate Olsen for the rest of her life, and people are going to blame her for his death. Just another Hollywood story.