It has been reported in the British newspaper The Sun that Brittany Murphy may have succombed to an addiction to pain killers, something we’ve heard before in the news this year.  Apparently Murphy has had a few plastic surgery procedures that have resulted in prescriptions for pain killers including Vicodin, a drug also known to be abused by Michael Jackson.  Murphy was rumored to have been fired from a recent movie production due to her erratic behavior, and friends of Murphy have made statements substantiating an addiction to pain meds and have expressed concern that something like this would happen.

Could something as innocent as a Vicodin overdose have caused Brittany’s death?  Sure.  All we know is that she was found in a state of cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived at her home.  Cardiac arrest can happen after a respiratory arrest, which can be caused by an overdose of these type of pain killers.  Vicodin also contains acetaminophen (Tylenol), which in large doses can cause metabolic derangements that can lead to electrolyte imbalance, cardiac arrhythmias, and cardiac arrest.

I guess we’ll just have to wait for the autopsy report and toxicology analysis to find out — sounds like something we heard this summer…..