The sad intersection of fame, drugs and death

An article in USA Today about the role that culture, law enforcement and the medical system can play in the deaths of celebrities due to substance addiction quotes Richard Blondell, a professor of family medicine, and Torin Finver, clinical instructor of family medicine, both in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “Sure, many have died before and many will die again, but those who have learned these lessons … are not the ones who sit in Congress or state office and have the power to change the system,” Blondell said. “I think that celebrities and people in power, because of their smarts and prestige, keep the lies going longer,” Finver said. “When they are finally found out and coerced, hopefully, into proper care, they are further along in their disease, and often even more difficult to treat.”

Richard Blondell also was quoted in the Los Angeles Times about federal agents and authorities in Minnesota who are working to determine how Prince obtained the fentanyl that killed him. The interaction of buprenorphine and fentanyl is potentially dangerous, he said, but the research on the potentially dangerous interaction remains hazy.

Read more:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2016/06/03/princes-autopsy-stark-reminder-intersection-celebs-drugs-death/85318572/

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-prince-drugs-investigation-20160603-snap-story.html