Anna Nicole Smith overdose death
From Drug Rehab Wiki
Anna Nicole Smith’s death from prescription drug overdose, although possibly not unforeseen, unexpectedly initiated a series of multiple investigations that has lasted years after her death. As much as Anna loved the limelight, the paparazzi, the outlandish attention, and the drama, her legacy definitely carries on her trademark “famous-for-being-famous” lifestyle.
While the news of her death was quite tumultuous amidst events such as her son’s death, the birth of her new daughter and the identity of her father, the federal court’s debate over Anna’s right to her late billionaire husband’s estate, and her non-legal binding ceremony to life-partner Howard K. Stern, it has taken years to straighten out the facts of that single day.
On February 8, 2007, the Playboy centerfold, model, actress, reality show personality, and spokesperson was found unconscious and not breathing in her sixth-floor hotel suite at the Seminole Hard Rock Café and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The 39-year-old, 5'11", 178-pound celebrity was first discovered by her friend and personal nurse, Tasma Brighthaupt, at 1:38 pm. Ms. Brighthaupt alerted the hotel staff for assistance, who in turn contacted security and a 911 operator. Ms. Brighthaupt began performing CPR until her Anna’s bodyguard (also Tasma’s husband, Maurice Brighthaupt), entered the room and took over. Paramedics arrived after 2:00 pm, and continued resuscitation efforts while transporting her to the nearest hospital. She was pronounced dead at 2:49 pm upon arrival at Memorial Region Hospital.
Chief Medical Examiner of the Broward County, Joshua Perper, confirmed Anna’s death to be accidental due to the acute combination of multiple legal drugs in her system. She had nine different prescription drugs in her system at the time of death; there was no evidence of illegal substances in her system despite her public use of alcohol and other substances such as methadone. Although each prescription medication was not taken in overwhelming amounts, their presence along with the injection of the sedative chloral hydrate became a lethal combination. The chloral hydrate was the primary cause of her overdose. Perper identified the following substances in Anna’s body, in order of severity regarding her lethal intoxication: trichloroethanol, trichloroacetic acid (both are from the chloral hydrate Noctec), diphenhydramine (Benadryl), clonazepam (Klonopin), diazepam (Valium), nordiazepam, temazepam, oxazepam (Serax), and lorazepam (Ativan). Other drugs such as acetaminophen, atropine, ciprofloxacin, and topiramate (Topamax) were present as well, but were not believed to have directly contributed to the overdose. Other subsequent contributors to her death include an abscess that had formed on her left buttock from chronic repeated injections of multiple medications, causing hemorrhaging and fibrosis or necrosis of the skin; presence of a viral infection and gastroentreritis; depression; hepatomegaly; and thyroiditis.
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan on November 28, 1967 in Mexia, Texas, Anna grew up fast and dropped out of high school after ninth grade. Her parents divorced while she was still young, and both went through a chain of remarriages throughout Anna’s life. Anna married at age 17 to Billy Smith, the fry cook of a restaurant at which she was employed as a waitress, and gave birth to her son Daniel Smith in 1986. After working as a waitress and retail employee, Anna became an exotic dancer and attracted the attention of Playboy magazine. She divorced her first husband in 1993, and married oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall in 1994 after meeting him at the strip club where she worked two years prior. Marshall was 63 years her senior, and died 13 months after their marriage. Anna became engaged in a long-term court battle for the inheritance of her late husband’s estate with Marshall’s eldest son. Although the matter transitioned repeatedly between probate, federal, the 9th Circuit court, and eventually the Supreme Court, the debate over Anna’s entitlement to the estate is still open, and could potentially be awarded to her 2-year-old daughter Dannielynn.
Since Dannielynn’s birth on September 7, 2006, several men came forward claiming to be the father of the child, but could not be proved since Anna remained in the Bahamas and outside of U.S. jurisdiction. Anna’s death spurred a paternity suit between former boyfriend Larry Birkhead and life-partner Howard K. Stern. Birkhead was established as the biological father on April 10, 2007 after DNA results were confirmed. Stern has since faced several allegations and eventually criminal charges regarding Anna’s death. First, Anna’s mother Virgie accused Stern of being involved in the death of Anna’s 20-year-old son, Daniel, on September 10, 2006 while Daniel was visiting his mother and newborn sister in the hospital. Daniel was found to have died from overdose due to the combination of methadone and antidepressants Zoloft and Lexapro. Daniel’s sudden death was considered suspicious, yet no evidence can link Stern to the death other than his presence in the room at the time. Posthumously, Anna’s residence was found to be containing a methadone prescription which she obtained from Dr. Sandeep Kapoor while she was eight months pregnant.
Multiple prescriptions were found to be in Anna’s possession, some written under false names or prescribed to Howard K. Stern, and all written by Dr. Kapoor or Anna’s psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevitz. Anna’s autopsy revealed that 8 of the 11 drugs in her system were prescription medications belonging to Stern, and all had been prescribed by Eroshevitz. Stern, Kapoor, and Eroshevitz are now under investigation and charged with a total of 23 counts of felony charges, including prescribing, administering, or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict, obtaining an opiate prescription by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, and unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance. The charges hold the three responsible for Anna’s death; the group sought several means to abet Anna and her addiction, enabling her with thousands of pills at her disposal. Her addiction and death has caused reckless damage to the status of her pending estate and the future of her young daughter.
