First, I have two friends who have had adult children who died of heroin overdose. One had just gotten out of rehab the day before, the other was to go into rehab the next day and apparently wanted to have one last party.
With the amount of heroin (49 packets total) and used syringes (numerous) found at the scene of Mr. Hoffman's death, I do not think this usage was anything recent. When was he supposed to have last been in rehab and for how long?
It does sound like he got hold of the same type of heroin that has killed 20-some people in Western Pennsylvania over the past week.
As for blaming a doctor who prescribed opiates to him, don't even try to go there. Doctors are not mind readers, they ask for a medical history. If you don't reveal you have a history of substance abuse issues there is no way for them to know it.
As an aside, I have a relative who has suffered from a chronic pain condition for almost 15 years now as a result of a horrible motor vehicle accident. In order to be functional, he has been taking prescribed oral morphine (MS Contin) for all these years. Contrary to so much of the literature, he does not seem to have developed a tolerance to it and his dosage has not increased at all over the years. He does have a prescription for Percocet to use for "breakthrough" pain, but says he only rarely needs to take any Percocet.
I have been around him at times when his pain is increased and you can tell by his body movements and the look on his face that his pain level is up. It is usually based on activity level. But the bottom line is - no big increase in need for pain meds as the years have passed. Also, he states he does not "get high" from it, that it just gives him relief from pain.
Secondly, I attended my late husband throughout his 14 month battle with a cancer that metastasized to his spinal column. He was in quite a bit of pain for his final months. Why? Because the higher doses of oxycodone made him hallucinate and "feel really weird" and he didn't like that feeling.
In some ways, these experiences have led me to re-examine the "addiction is an illness" theory.
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Hitchhiker: Your theory is preposterous. I agree it is a sad coincidence about the death hoax the day before his death, but these "Hollywood death hoaxes" have been around for a long, long time. Going back to the "Paul is dead" hoax when Paul McCartney was in the Beatles.
The stamp on the heroin is just that - a stamp. The lethal heroin (a mixture of heroin and fentanyl) that is out there in several cities right now has numerous name stamps.
This article talks about Pennsylvania and other states where the lethal mixture has shown up:
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/c...-arrested-in-heroin-bust/stories/201401310142
