Thursday, February 04, 2010

Pneumonia & Drugs Killed Brittany Murphy - Can You Hear The Police Simon?


The Los Angeles County Coroner's office released their report today on the death of Brittany Murphy. They said she died from "community acquired pneumonia, with contributing factors of iron deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication."

All of the drugs found in her system were prescription drugs. Apparently lots and lots of them. The Coroner even paid a repeat visit to Brittany Murphy's house but I bet whatever was there is all gone now. Brittany's loser husband Simon Monjack has repeatedly said the only prescription drugs Brittany took were for seizures. For everything else she relied on over the counter medicine like Robitussin. Uh huh. When the report comes out in two weeks listing all of the drugs they found in her body I will be anxious to hear what you have to say then.

That bastard is evil. Because I know there are so many readers who are nurses and experts on medicine and because I am lazy would someone explain community pneumonia to me.

50 comments:

Icecat said...

This is what Michael K posted. I believe it is from Wiki...


Community Acquired Pneumonia is: "a disease in which individuals who have not recently been hospitalized develop an infection of the lungs (pneumonia). CAP is a common illness and can affect people of all ages. CAP often causes problems like difficulty in breathing, fever, chest pains, and a cough. CAP occurs because the areas of the lung which absorb oxygen (alveoli) from the atmosphere become filled with fluid and cannot work effectively

Penny Whacker said...

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/234240-overview

I'm too much of a lazy bitch to copy/paste

jax said...

i think it just means like getting the flu from being in public as opposed to fluid on the lungs for some other medical condition..no?

Icecat said...

It is just so sad. If she would have went to the Dr. she might still be here. BUT, with that said, I have no room to talk. I rarely go to the Dr. for a cold/cough....

Cheryl said...

Does this mean that because her body was already weakened by the pneumonia and other medical issues that her body couldn't handle the drugs that she was used to taking?

Anonymous said...

I do hope she is at peace.

slider1964 said...

Simon is such a fraud !!I wish they'd get him for something!!

KellyLynn said...

I think it means because her body was weakened by anemia and the drug intoxication, it was unable to fight off the pneumonia.

Poor girl.

blog hopper said...

Glamour had a timeline of photos of her from 1996-2009 and I didn't realize just how thin she got. I knew she was skinny, but the contrast was scary. RIP.

sunnyside1213 said...

So sad.

ellapetal said...

I don't mean to be simple but to die (of a contributing factor)of multiple drug intoxication don't you have to have a LOT of drugs in your system? I only ask because I was under the impression that the drugs that were listed as prescribed to her weren't that copious/didn't have interaction issues. And that would lead me to believe that she was either taking them by the fistful, or she was taking stuff that wasn't prescribed to her *cough* SIMON *cough*.

Or maybe you just aren't supposed to take Tussin with ANYTHING else.

On the other hand, I am feeling particularly dense today so maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

Anyway you slice it, it's just a terrible loss and I hope she is at peace now.

timebob said...

So in a nut shell if Simon got off his fat lazy ass and took his wife to a proper Doctor or Hospital she would of lived.

ballyhoo. said...

exactly, apple. though i think being fat and lazy was only the half of it. he and her mother knew there was a little prescription drug issue they didn't want to be detected. just heartbreaking that this could have been treated.

Stacy said...

Community pneumonia means just that, you got it in the community; not in a hospital and not from a known specific individual. Or in other words, a nontracklable source.

timebob said...

right Ballyhoo, I'm sure in their head they were "protecting" Britney. But really they were protecting themselves. They are no better then Anna Nicole Smiths "soul mate" Howard K. Stern. They fed the addiction to enable and keep control over her.

ellapetal said...

This is what I just found over at TMZ:

"Sources involved in Brittany Murphy's autopsy tell TMZ her death was "preventable."

Sources say the primary causes of Murphy's death were pneumonia and severe anemia. L.A. County Coroner officials believe Brittany's condition was "treatable" but no one took her to the hospital in time.

As for the multiple drugs found in her system, we're told they were both prescription, including medicine for cramps, and over-the-counter medications, including cough syrup. Our sources say the drugs "pushed her over the line" but the underlying problems were the pneumonia and anemia.

In other words, Brittany was really sick, didn't get treatment and by self-medicating it pushed her over the line."

Totally preventable. This just makes me sadder.

mags said...

Simon Monjack should be charged with some version of negligent care.

F*cker

JoElla said...

I really hope that she is finally at peace. Poor thing, this is just so sad.

Leah said...

Something to consider is that her seizure meds and OTC cold meds may have interracted badly. I know that I have to be super careful about giving my son (who has epilepsy and takes the same med brit was prescribed) any OTC cold meds because of med interractions that could cause a dangerous decrease in respiratory rate (among other things).

Dianne P said...

Community acquired pneumonia is called that to distinguish it from the type of pneumonia that people who are hospitalized, ventilated, etc. get. CAP and hospital-acquired pneumonia are usually caused by different microorganisms and have different responses to various antibiotics--that is why it's an important distinction from a medical POV.

For us gossip-mongers, it's really just pneumonia that she picked up somewhere.

CaliGirlinVA said...

From the list of meds that was found at the scene, she was being treated for bronchitis. I remember seeing Biaxin and prednisone on the med list, in addition to a benzo and narcotics. So, she WAS being treated for something... She just worsened... Probably due to her weakened immune system from all those drugs.

Treesap-Covered Lady, the Humanist said...

Since y’all have pretty much cleared up CAP, I don’t feel the need to expand on in further.

Over-the-counter drugs make my job so much harder than it has to be.

CaliGirlinVA said...

And I didn't see any anticonvulsants, if you exclude the benzodiazepine. It would be unusual to be on a benzo alone for seizures.

Tempestuous Grape said...

Simon looks like he's been abusing prescription meds for years. He probably got her hooked or added to her already being hooked. I think most young women take Adderall to stay thin. She strikes me as someone who was taking it. It may not be meth per se, but it's still speed.

Desiree said...

Her anemia was probably worsened because she was soooo skinny and didn't eat well. I used to be anemic when I was younger and pretty skinny...now I'm in my 30's and well let's say anemia is no longer an issue :-)

RocketQueen said...

BG outed her as their blind about the celeb who allowed herself one oreo per day if she kept her calories at an "acceptable" level - there's no question this girl had an eating disorder, which likely contributed to her anemia.
So for her asswipe husband to say she had no eating disorder or problem with drugs....well, I guess we know how truthful he was, don't we?

CaliGirlinVA said...

Ok, my lazy ass looked up the meds that Enty listed in December. She was on Topamax, which is an anticonvulsant, but for some reason I remember Enty saying she had migraines, which we also use topamax. I don't believe the seizure story.

nancer said...

this was not a healthy girl. combine her weakened immune system from her anemia (and undoubtedly awful eating habits), the pneumonia and a belly full of drugs---most likely stuff like xanax, ativan, probably some ambien or restoril and God knows what else she was taking, and this is what happens.
i'd say dirtbag can kiss his 'heart attack from being fired' lawsuit goodbye.

trouble bubble said...

Does anybody else wonders if Enty is somehow personally connected to Brittany? He always gets so emotional when speaking about her and Simon.

ellapetal said...

@trouble bubble - get out of my head! LOL I was just thinking the same thing when you posted it!

I too was wondering if Enty had some relationship with her because he seems very passionate about this particular subject. I know he knows people that worked with her, but I was wondering if perhaps he had known her, or Simon, in some way.

Vanessa said...

she probably had strep. pneumoniae.....the anemia excerabeted the pneumoniae ---

I don't know why simon should go to jail......she was a grown woman and could make her own decisions.
No one forced her to take the drugs....for all we know he could be telling the truth....don't jump the gun.

classalpha said...

... "wondering", "probably", "might have", etc. = BULLSH!T.

As per Coroner's report: Cause of Death - acute drug intoxication, anemia, pneumonia.


DRUGS NOTED FIRST... and INTOXICATION meaning TOO MUCH.

Himmmm said...

Yes, Dianne and Jax are correct. However, it's not just the definition...but the CONTEXT.

See, a normal GP Doc doesn't call Community Pneum. by that name because it isn't relative to their diagnosis. HOWEVER, a Coroner and/or Epidemiologist will use the term "Community" to indicate - NOT Community, as in where you live - but COMMUNITY as in COMMUNICABLE and COMMUNICATING...meaning "transmitted via others". This is just as important in health investigations as is the difference between polypharmacy, and drug DEPENDENCY vs. ADDICTION. Thus, a Coroner must indicate the Pneum. was communicating to distiguish it from isolated (such as the type you acquire while in a coma or which eminates from isolated sources). Which, in a roundabout way, is what Dianne and Jax were saying.

I got my Masters in Public Health and besides a short residency (in Epidemiology) at CDC and a month-long stint at USAMRIID/USAMRICD a lifetime ago I have no use for it at all (til now! lol). Yes, I'm a pedant and a bit detailed on specifics. But it's the underlying bullshit from Monjack that chaps my ass.

The sick irony is that when this fat bloated douchebag gets grilled by the media/paps on the spit like the fat fucking pig he his - soembody ought to ask him if Warner Bros. also forced Brit to mainline a fucking speedball on October 18th, 2004 at 2:30am in Room 12 at the Marmont shortly before being gangbanged by two grostesque drug-addled hoodrats she brought with her. The sound she made was not of her heart breaking, but rather of her cardiopulmonary system screaming for help.

Sorry...I get a lil carried away at times. But Brit is not the last who faces a similar fate. Expect to see similar life departures in the future from Hayden P. (thanks to her new BFF, the Slavic-Brit high-class whore/madame who introduced her to smack and billionaires that pay her dwarf ass to do live bisexual S&M shows); and the lovely Mena Suvari who I'm picking for #1 in the 2010 dead pool. No matter how many times they are warned, they keep on digging their own graves.

If YOU know anyone with a drug problem, show them a sunset and ask them if they ever wanna see it again. Love them with all youve got. Let them know somebody will miss them when they die. And be there for them at 3am when they feel alone and crying. I say I've tried my best - but they throw it right back in my face. Sometimes the expense of hurt and compassion just emotionally taxes you to your own breaking point. God help them, for I no longer can.

mooshki said...

Enty's friend America worked on a film recently with Brittany and liked her a lot, so I think that's part of why he finds this so upsetting.

B626 said...

Thanks for posting this Enty-IF Brit was a mucho star like Wacko Jacko Simon and Sharon would be under a bigger magnifying glass, in much bigger trouble than they perceive to be in now, hope I'm wrong.
Monjack was only in her life for a couple years, an opportunist obviously. Sharon, MOM, how could you let this happen???

Robin the Mad Photographer said...

I'd be interested in knowing just how anemic she was--if it was as bad as I'm assuming, then how in the world did she even manage to get out of bed in the morning???

I say this because, back in November, I had an extremely unpleasant episode involving a very nasty lower GI bleed (I have hereditary diverticulosis, and apparently some of the blood vessels near the pouches eroded) and lost approximately 3 pints of blood; my hematocrit bottomed out at 24.5 IIRC, and even with taking plenty of prescription iron supplements for some time, I was still barely able to function for several weeks--at first, just breathing and walking short distances left me completely drained. I've also been about that anemic due to excessive & prolonged periods, and while I wasn't quite as wiped out then (losing it all at once hits a lot harder faster than losing it a bit at a time over several weeks), I was still pale, exhausted, wasn't sleeping well, and had a nasty bit of restless leg syndrome, which is aggravated by anemia.

I guess what I'm wondering is (a) how anemic do you have to be for it to be a contributing cause of death, and (b) how could you--or at least anyone close to you--not see that something was obviously wrong? That poor, poor girl...she had no reserves to fight off the pneumonia (which all by itself will just wear you slap out--been there, done that, too), and the drugs just finished the job. :-( Methinks I wouldn't want Simon's karma right about now, and very possibly her mom's as well--how could you not notice that your daughter is wasting away before your very eyes? At least no one can hurt or neglect her any more... *sigh*

NotOprah said...

Ugh. This is so tacky --
apparently the husband and mom have a Brittany Murphy Foundation set up and are charging $1k for tickets for some event. Surely this is made up??

http://allieiswired.com/archives/2010/02/simon-monjack-cashing-in-on-brittany-murphy/

ChasingHeaven said...

Himmmm -

I just wanted to say that your post really struck me, it's something that I'm going to be thinking about for a very long time. Thank you for posting such a powerful message, I wish I could know you outside of a gossip blog.

Himmmm said...

ChasingHeaven...

You do know me outside of the internet world you silly thing. I'm that guy you knew in school who was the perpetual nice-guy destined to finish last. The one without the cheerleader girlfriend or hot camaro in which to cruise. Or maybe you recall me from at work, when I'd smile and hold the door open when your arms were full. Or from the park when I'd be sitting there writing in my notebook on a sunny Spring day with a grin on my face. Or maybe when your car ran out of gas or broke down? That was me who called the tow for you.

No, I'm no saint or DudleyDoRight. I'm just a guy, like a million others, just trying to do the right thing. Just trying to make the world better than when I arrived. Just trying to give someone a smile or laugh or shoulder when hell finds its way into their lap.

I don't always succeed, but I try. If you wanna thank me? Then hold that door for someone today. Say hi to the quiet guy in the park, or tell a silly joke to the nerdy guy in class. As much as we'd like - we can't save the world with a giant wish...but what we can all do - and its free - is to try and do one small little thing for someone else every day. That's how we win.

I tell my little daughter this same stuff every night before I read her to sleep. Then I tell her to pray for the strength and abilities to help others...not for riches, fame, or glory. But to have the talents to make someone else smile. If I've done that for you ChasingHeaven...then I can sleep well tonight. So I thank you for allowing me this chance to do my best. I hope in some small way your day can be brighter tomorrow.

I had my first wife taken from me in a car wreck. Lost my second wife to her own demons while I was working overseas trying to be a hero for the wrong reasons (govt/military). I've been blessed enough to save lives (former EMT); play music onstage with legends; write songs and movies that others enjoyed; and keep getting third and fourth chances to live all my dreams. But best of all - I've been able to raise my daughters.

Along the way I've lost too many whom I love, and seen the best and worst alive. I've taken lives, and brought lives into this world. I was stricken with a life-altering medical issue years ago, and have endured the highest and lowest anyone can know. But I wouldn't trade this rollercoaster for anything.

I'd only hate it if I couldn't feel it. And if it ends tomorrow? No regrets. I wish you my kind of peace; my kind of happiness, and the strength to be the person you wanted to be when you were a child.
Remember that you are loved.
And pass it on...
From: Me
...or, well...Himmm!lol.
(SORRY to Enty and others for using comments for personal stuff).

GladysKravitz said...

To Hmmmm: Uh, I beg to differ regarding Community Acquired Pneumonia. I agree with everyone else here, the medical people, who believe, as I do, that CAP is just that; acquired in the community, not in a hospital. Hospital Acquired Pneumonia or a Nosocomial Pneumonia, are distinguished from CAP because of the source. Often CAP can be more quickly lethal.

To Robin The Mad Photographer: I'm sorry you were so ill, and that sounds like an awful experience. In answer to your question, though, it's easier for the body to compensate for long-term anemia than to the sudden type of anemia you had. It's kind of like boiling a frog--you know the analogy--turn the heat up, little by little, and the frog doesn't notice it until it's too late. Our bodies are the same way--if we get anemic slowly, due to poor diet or poor iron absorption, or heavy menstruation, month by month, our bodies adjust.

Which brings me to what I'm wondering: How could her husband allow her to get that anemic? He had to see that she was way too white, and got short of breath too easily. For a coroner to list it as a cause of death, it must have been pretty severe. Where the hell was the guy who should have been acting as her best friend?

And yes, Class Alpha, for the coroner to list drug intoxication as his first cause of death probably means that the coroner believes that was the largest contributing factor to her death. The fact that anemia is listed second is what raises my antennae--and it is as if CAP is an after thought. As i said from the beginning, doing drugs and alcohol in excess leads to a suppression of one's immune system--and then we become vulnerable to a whole range of other disease, community or hosptial acquired.

Poor Brittany Murphy. It seems as if she wasn't very good at taking care of herself, and the people who should have loved her enough to help her do so ignored her. Sad.

Trey said...

CAP- Community acquired; acronym commonly used by hospital personnel.
HAP- Hospital acquired.

The major difference they taught me in nursing school? HAP is usually antibiotic-resistant (think MRSA and VRE, which you can have in addition to the CAP/HAP). Most people mistake CAP for something more minor.

Iron-def anemia has varying degrees of intensity; without being privy to her medical files most of this will be conjecture... one effect of iron-def anemia: "Enhanced heavy metal absorption and risk for toxicity. Those with low iron will have an increased GI absorption of metals which is not specific for iron, so will absorb more lead, cobalt, cadmium, mercury. High blood levels of lead are more common in children with low iron." [http://www.thewayup.com/newsletters/081504.htm]. High levels of metals will lead to seizures; not to mention severely damage the liver (which is already functioning poorly via lack of iron), which then cannot properly filter out the medications she diluted in her blood. Most people don't die from just one thing- it's a cascade of problems coming together to meet death head-on.

Trey said...

After further investigation I am confident in my assessment. Further thoughts:

Iron-def can be mistaken for an eating disorder; it's possible nobody knew she was iron-def (I'm not really sure about this cloudy area here, apparently she wasn't going to a doctor but they knew she was anemic? You can't really get a diagnosis without lab results or some other objective data...).

Multiple OTC cold medications contain acetaminophen, which is hepatotoxic ("liver toxic"). That exact reason is why there's legislation floating around to ban all OTC cold medicines or have them do away with the acetaminophen... people will OD without even knowing that 3/5 medications they were taking all contained the same thing.

They mentioned severe menstrual problems which is another common symptom/cause of iron-def anemia. Simply being on her period would worsen her anemia (iron is used to make red blood cells). Whoever wrote her the script for the period problems (if they have a brain and want to keep their licence) should have drawn blood and checked her iron, rbcs, platelets, Hgb, Hct, and even some B12 serum. After that they would have diagnosed her with iron-def and put her on some medications, and as long as she followed her care plan she should have been fine.
Obviously, somebody dropped the 'effin ball here :|

ChasingHeaven said...

Himmmm -
Please sleep well tonight and in the days ahead, your post has already done more than you'll ever realize and more than I can possibly express. I can only offer back a humbled THANK YOU.

My apologies to everyone for getting sidetracked, I'll leave it with this.

PollyPureBred said...

Trey - All acetaminophen(tylenol) products should be by Rx only. It is criminal that it is unregulated. If I see it at a friend's house I toss it. I preach the evil every time the topic comes up.
Make that toxin illegal.

Trey said...

I think it would be better if moms and dads just read the labels to their kids the first couple of times they get exposed to it. We grow up in this culture where script and OTC use is so prevalent that nobody takes it seriously anymore. For most people taking anything OTC is so blasé who would want to waste time reading a silly bottle... I was guilty of this as well at one point :p
I do somewhat preach about it now that I know better. Forewarned is forearmed~

ballyhoo. said...

i think i have a crush on himmmmmm.

dbfreak said...

Now I must beg to differ with you, @PollyPureBred - acetaminophen is sometimes the *only* thing a person can take over the counter. For example, my mother's severely allergic to aspirin, so we kids don't know how it would affect us and being that I have a history of bad drug reactions, I would never chance it when I know acetaminophen is fairly effective and doesn't cause any bad reactions in me. I *can't* take motrin (causes me to vomit) or naproxen sodium (active ingredient in Alleve - gave me spinal meningitis!), so all that's left for me is acetaminophen.

Granted, I don't take any type of cold medicines and the only thing I take that has acetaminophen in it is Tylenol caplets. I also don't drink much. But when I get the occasional migraine, cramps or severe muscle pain, I'm taking my Tylenol. Make acetaminophen illegal and you take away the only drug I can have for what I listed *and* fevers. I wouldn't care if it was banned from cold medicine, but take away my Tylenol, and I'm gonna revolt : )

ballyhoo. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I just keep telling myself that the Coroner/Medical Examiner made sure to indicate CAP so that Simon Monjacka$$ can't sue her doctor or a pharmacist or the Jimmy John's delivery driver, etc. You know he's not stopping with his Warner Brothers suit. He's not done blaming people yet.

classalpha said...

... *SKUM-athon's* obviously "Em"timidating *el Gordo Coronero aka E.Winter* w/ lawsuit threats because of the "leaked report" to TMZ. BTW... Her "official" CoD is completely FRAUDULENT - Britt was clearly "Em"aciated at Her Final "premiere" for *that 'Hall' flick*... but She was EVEN THINNER when She Passed - 'JUST' think how GAUNT She 'WAS' there @ Her Final "premiere"... then REALIZE THAT She was EVEN WORSE TWO WEEKS LATER. ... *SKUM-jacteria* & Sharon NEGLIGENTLY ALLOWED Britt to STARVE HerSelf to Death... *drug INTOXICATION* and PREVENTABLE ANOREXIA were the TRUE CoD... PERIOD. The anemia and pneumonia were the SYMPTOMS... NOT THE CoD. Trust...

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