Online Pharmacy Medicine Blog

Until recently, it was more common for celebrities to die from illegal drugs than from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. But as prescription drug abuse has become a larger problem for our society as a whole, we have seen an increasing number of celebrities die as a result.

Just since 2007, we have lost Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith and now, possibly, King of Pop Michael Jackson because of prescription drugs.

“This is not something that has been unexpected… because of the medications which Michael was under,” Jackson family attorney Brian Oxman said shortly after the singer’s death. Jackson reportedly was taking Xanax, Zoloft and Demerol at the time of his death.

Which drugs are the most likely to cause accidental drug deaths? In many cases, it’s not one drug — it’s a combination of drugs that can be deadly when taken together.

Here are 10 of the most famous accidental celebrity prescription drug deaths and the medications that caused them. You’ll notice several no prescription drugs that have played a role in multiple celebrity deaths, including Valium, Xanax and Vicodin.

1. Marilyn Monroe: Nembutal, chloral hydrate

2. Elvis Presley: Placidyl, Dexedrine

3. Judy Garland: Seconal

4. Howard Hughes: Valium, codeine

5. Heath Ledger: OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax, Valium, Restoril

6. Dorothy Dandrige (1940s/50s actress): Imipramine

7. Dana Plato (Diff’rent Strokes): Vanadom, Vicodin

8. Keith Moon (The Who): Heminevrin

9. Rob Pilatus (Milli Vanilli): methadone

10. Robert Walker (1940s/50s actor): sodium amytal

Views expressed on this blog are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other individual or company.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 12:08 am and is filed under antidepressants, drug interactions, oxycontin, prescription drug abuse. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.