Heath Ledger Died of Accidental Overdose

[70Chip]

Some in the press are misleading the public in terms of what "accidental" means. He wasn't trying to kill himself (we assume), so in that sense his death was an accident. However, even if he was prescribed all those drugs, no doctor would have him on Xanax AND Valium at the same time. They're both benzodiazepenes and it would not make sense to have him taking both. The same applies to Hydrocodone (Vicadin) and Oxycodone (Oxycontin, possibly percocet, percodin). Both painkiller opiates. So, he knowingly was taking drugs in a manner that is not safe and was not prescribed for him. He probably was doctor shopping, telling different stories to different docs to get all those meds. I suppose to the extent that it was an accident, it was an accident waiting to happen.

In addition. most people who take Oxycontin recreationally, snort or inject in order to defeat the time-release agent and get the full affect. Very unsafe and again, it's hard to classify the outcome as purely "accidental".