Death is sad.
Offline First, I'd like to start off by saying that there is a reason it's in this forum as opposed to the others. I'm a bit bitter now, so please excuse any amount of vulgar language. This will also be a long read...
I also get a lot of comfort out of writing, so this is mainly for theraputic means as well as for asking some questions to spawn discussion and to gather some information about things.
So my step mother 'died' yesterday (she was pretty much brain dead on the 24th and lost all brain function sometime the next day) from an overdose of oxycodone and cyclobenzaprine. She had been addicted to oxycodone her entire life and she just got the cyclobenzaprine on the 23rd. She took about 70 combined pills on the 24th. 30 some oxycodone and about 40 cyclobenzaprine. As much as this sounds like a suicide, it isn't. Let me explain.
My dad just bought her a new house (the one I moved in to)... she picked it out and was extremely happy. She also just got a new car, one she picked out, and loved it. Everytime I talked to her, which was daily and for hours, she was the happiest person I've ever seen alive. They were going to go on vacation in a month (they were celebrating her birthday then... she was turning 50) and she just bought some dresses for it the day before. The day she OD'd she called and made an appointment to see about adding in an outside room on the porch. However, she was bi-polar... but she was taking medication and the medication did work. So, how do we know for sure it wasn't a suicide?
Whenever she took oxycodone, she always became incoherrant and had no idea what she was doing. As an example, she would take 2 and end up putting hams, and other frozen foods, into the upstairs closet. In other words, she was clueless of her actions.
Also, something like this had happened before in Korea. She had no idea what had happened.
Also, if you do some research on cyclobenzaprine, it's not supposed to be taken with oxycodone... at all.
Anyway, I don't want to go into the exact details of the stay at the hospital. All I really want to say is that I'm proud of my dad. Although he wants there to be a heaven, he doesn't believe in it. Although the two of us did go through prayer when a chaplain or pastor came by (I'll explain why this was a good thing later), we would both comment on how we wish it worked or wish it was real.
About the chaplain thing. I'm actually rather glad as many chaplains and pastors stopped by as they did. The hospital asked us early on what our religious preference was and we said we had none... so they sent up the pastors and chaplains with this knowledge. They didn't try to sell us the religion or anything like that. They were simply strong support, and I'm really thankfull they were there.
So, my main few questions are going to be kind of simple. Since it's easier for me to talk about this stuff than it is to do research on it, I would really appreciate it if you guys could find some stuff out for my dad and I.
1. Is it illegal to prescribe two conflicting medicines to a patient?
2. Are there any organizations that we can join that are try to help people fight addictions (I know, it's a losing battle)? More specifically narcotic addiction?
Thanks a bunch guys, I really appreciate anything and everything said. Even "Damn that sucks shit dude"helps =P.
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On the first question, its not illegal, but the doctor should have been well aware of everything she was taking. There might be enough cause for a malpractice suit if you want to go that route, or it might have been someone simply didn't look at a chart. It's hard to say.
I'll give you the doctor's defense, and tell you why it's not worth pursuing.
All medications have clear warnings about drug interactions on the labels. Presumably, the oxy's are for occasional use, since we know how addictive they are. Since they're used occasionally, it's reasonable to conclude that they could be used safely when other conflicting medications were not being taken.
Now, this may not sound like a great defense, but criminal negligence is really hard to prove. You've got to be able to make a case that the doctor went out of his way to intentionally deceive your mother. This is going to be almost impossible unless you have some pretty incriminating recordings, transcripts, or something.
Trust me. This is why doctors pay so much for malpractice insurance and lawyer retainers.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
As for the second question, I don't know.
As for the story in general, I can't pretend to know how that feels, but for what it's worth, I lost my dad, and it was a case of criminal negligence, and he was a vegetable, a la Terri Schaivo, for over ten years. The suddenness of your situation is something I can't relate to, but the situation with prayers and chaplains and such is.
My dad was a non-theist. Calling him an atheist is probably too strong, although technically he was. He was just a non-theist. He didn't care, and he didn't talk about it, and he didn't bother anybody else about their beliefs. The only time he ever darkened a church door was a wedding or a funeral. Yet, at his own funeral, I really had to look around to make sure I was in the right room. The "devout man of god" the pastor described didn't resemble my father at all. I wanted to stand up and scream at him to please talk about the man who had died or get out of the room and let someone who actually knew him talk about him.
The only thing that stopped me was knowing that he wouldn't care.
In any case, the kind words of my atheist friends, and the food they cooked, and the errands they ran for me meant more than all of the "We're praying for you" comments put together.
If I lived near you, I'd offer to do stuff for you. As it is, I can only offer my sympathy.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
Well, she was prescribed two oxycodone a day. She was also prescribed 3 cyclobenzaprine pills a day. There is a direct conflict of medication there, which is what is rather disturbing... especially as oxycodone, and some of the other pills she were taking, is a big no-no in regards to taking them together with cyclobenzaprine.
Oh CrimsonEdge! I'm soooo soooooo sorry you're going through this. It sounds as if you and your step mom were quite close and truly good friends. There's no doubt you will miss her terribly.
There are no words that can take away or ease the hurt and confusion in situations like this. I wish there were. Sometimes life just sucks and all we can do is muddle through it.
You have friends here. We're always willing to listen and send some virtual hugs.
{{{{CrimsonEdge}}}}
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Well my sister is a pharmacist, and it really is their job to catch conflicts like that. Doctors are usually too busy to check into the compatibility of different medications. This is why it takes 20 minutes for pharmacists to get your prescriptions (at least for me...), the pharmacists should be checking this. And if they find that the two drugs are incompatible they are suppose to contact the doctor and they both come to a conclusion about the right medication to take. So it seems to me that the pharmacist wasn't doing their job.
Depends where you live, of course if one was into the Buybull AA meetings might do it (although according to P&T it's a 5% chance of quitting if you go or not, with alcohol that is). People won't quit any narcotic unless they want to. Narcotics do what people want them to do, that's why they keep taking them. You did say that she would do strange things like put meat in the closet, so maybe the oxycodone was her way to escape reality.
I'm sorry for your loss.
"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."--Stephen F. Roberts
Yeah, that's pretty fucked. I was not imagining that high a dosage on the prescription.
If this was on the same prescription, there might be something to it. If it was prescribed by two different doctors, and filled at separate pharmacies, probably not.
Has your family decided whether or not to consult a lawyer? Or have you even had time to discuss this with them?
I hope you're doing ok, Crimson. Keep us updated when you can, ok?
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism