8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway

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  • #1,021
LOL - we like camping too, LinasK!

Question: Hubby said "it was a regular day, we got up and had coffee". Where was he? Did they drive seperate cars? I mean in this day and age, it's a lot of gas money to spend on 2 cars to go camping for 2 days (4 hours each was as I heard). Why didn't they all go together?

I am completely lost in this case. In an article today:

The husband of Taconic death driver Diane Schuler wants his wife's body exhumed, a source close to the family said. He thinks the only way to explain the drinking and drugging is that she wasn't in her right mind. His theory is that she had a stroke, possibly stemming from diabetes.

Nancy Grace said she had gestational diabetes 2 years ago, which goes away at birth. And didn't the autopsy say it was alcohol and not a stroke?

Sorry - my head is spinning.

:waitasec:

Mel
 
  • #1,022
What I want to know is wtf they mean by the lump in her leg was moving. WTF?!? Lumps don't move!

The only lumps that move are blood clots (that I know of). Cancers tend to grow; not move like a big ol' lump.

IMHO - the husband and his loopy attorney are trying to come up with ANY reason for this accident other than DUI.

Reality bites --

Mel
 
  • #1,023
ITA with you on getting information out there, especially with OTC's since my husband died, at xmas at 35yrs old, as a result of an adverse reaction to Tylenol (Acetaminophen). I spent over 7 years fighting to get information out about it. I finally got justice a couple of months ago when the FDA changed how Acetaminophen products will be sold. BTW, I also meant to state earlier that Acetaminophen poisoning shows up on a liver slide as a distinct almond shaped pattern. That would have shown up in the autopsy as well.

Maybe I'm not getting how something that's not in a tox screen could be a factor in this case?

I'm very sorry about your husband, SuziQ...how horrible that he died so young and at Christmastime. I've been reading about the FDA wanting to change how acetaminophen products are sold and I totally agree. Tylenol toxicity probably happens more than we know and unfortunately you had to find out about it the hard way.

Regarding the tox screen, I'm sorry, but I was mostly thinking out loud when I was wondering about the OTC cold medicine in my post above. I guess deep down I want there to be SOMETHING other than alcohol and weed that could have caused this tragedy. I know there isn't, tox screens don't lie, and again, I am NOT trying to make excuses for DS. It just baffles me how this happened and no one is coming forth and saying she had an alcohol or drug problem before the accident.

BTW, about the HRT: I was on it for a couple years starting back in 2000. I started taking it in Sept. In December I was drinking at a Christmas party and started drooling, had blurred vision and partial facial paralysis. I never drank much after that while on HRT because I was convinced the combination of the alcohol and HRT had caused my symptoms.
 
  • #1,024
It's my opinion that the initial tox report only covered drugs that are implicated in DUI: alcohol, cocaine, meth, opiates, barbs, and pot. It is only my opinion that they didn't test for any other drugs because that would involve multiple tests, some of which may be impossible because of the way the drug breaks down in the body, or because it doesn't show up in blood to be tested for.

Again, if ANYONE can show me a criminal investigation that showed a tox report that included every drug a person could have been taking, including OTC drugs, I'll retract what I said. But I still aver that just because the tox report that was made didn't show anything but alcohol and marijuana, it doesn't mean that other drugs weren't present in her system. It only means that they weren't tested for--and how would they know what to test for unless Daniel Schuler said, "She took OTC antacids, she had allergies so she was taking OTC antihistamines, she had pain so she was taking Tylenol."

But they wouldn't say, "do a test for every possible drug she might have taken"--that's virtually impossible to do. And if Schuler didn't know what drugs she might have been taking (who knows? I got a friend to give me a Vicodin once), he couldn't point law enforcement in that direction.

If she'd popped a double dose of Tylenol upon waking and then started to drink, the combination could have caused confusion. She might have figured a joint would smooth her out. Her liver may have been very busy trying to metabolize alcohol on top of acetominophen, and failed. And I still think there's a possibility that she was secretly taking carelessly prescribed ADs and had no idea that they could react on her.
 
  • #1,025
BTW, about the HRT: I was on it for a couple years starting back in 2000. I started taking it in Sept. In December I was drinking at a Christmas party and started drooling, had blurred vision and partial facial paralysis. I never drank much after that while on HRT because I was convinced the combination of the alcohol and HRT had caused my symptoms.

Respectfully snipped:

Can anyone tell me what HRT stands for?? I'm confused!
 
  • #1,026
HRT=hormone replacement therapy
 
  • #1,027
I think it has been covered already but I'm going to address it again for anyone who may have missed it. In NYS, hard liquor cannot be purchased in a convenience store. Only in a liquor store. And no alcohol may be sold on Sundays prior to 12 PM.

So, either Diane already had the vodka in the car for the trip (which is the way I lean) or she stopped at a liquor store sometime after noon on Sunday, which I suppose could be one reason for the extended timeline.

But the crash ocurred around 1:30 PM so that would have been a serious amount of drinking in an hour and a half.
 
  • #1,028
First time posting here, so I might have missed some past information. Wasn't it reported that there was a l.75 liter bottle of vodka in the vehicle and the husband stated they carried that bottle back and forth just in case he wanted to have a drink.?
 
  • #1,029
SM, Schuler has already stipulated that the vodka bottle was Schuler family property. He made some confusing statements--that it was always stored up at the campsite, that it was always stored in the camper, and that it was always stored in the minivan. He said that it always stayed at the campground, and also that it traveled back and forth between the campground and home because Schuler might want a mixed drink at either location.

If the bottle was stored in the back of the minivan (not legal, but probably a nice-looking suburban mommy type could explain it away), then it would be easy for Diane to make trips to the garage and replenish the bottle with water and eventually with another full bottle. If it was at the camper and the camper was only visited on weekends, then she may have been a binge drinker and did her heavy drinking there. Either way, Schuler hasn't denied they had a big bottle of vodka as part of their camping and/or household goods.
 
  • #1,030
No, I know, VCD...but because there have been conflicting reports from Dan Schuler regarding how/where the vodka bottle came from, I was just stating my opinion that I think it was there all the time. And I don't necessarily believe it was one lonely bottle that made the trip back and forth from home to the campground and back again.
 
  • #1,031
SluethyMama, I agree, I sincerely doubt there was only one bottle. If one needs a l.75 liter bottle in case they want a drink, they must be going through a few drinks. IMO, if you only wanted an occasional drink you would probably have a much smaller bottle.
 
  • #1,032
I'm not disagreeing with you, SM, just that we're again getting confusing explanations from Schuler. There could have been three bottles! One in the minivan, one in the camper, and one hauled back and forth in the mysterious "bag" Schuler thought he and Diane packed up that morning. Each one was "the bottle." If Schuler ever held up two bottles and said, "Where did this come from?" how easy it would be to say, Oh, silly me, musta bought an extra one, that must have been sitting around for months, silly me, misplaced it and thought we were out, silly me."
 
  • #1,033
  • #1,034
ITA with you on getting information out there, especially with OTC's since my husband died, at xmas at 35yrs old, as a result of an adverse reaction to Tylenol (Acetaminophen). I spent over 7 years fighting to get information out about it. I finally got justice a couple of months ago when the FDA changed how Acetaminophen products will be sold. BTW, I also meant to state earlier that Acetaminophen poisoning shows up on a liver slide as a distinct almond shaped pattern. That would have shown up in the autopsy as well.

Maybe I'm not getting how something that's not in a tox screen could be a factor in this case?


Please forgive me for not replying sooner to you. My deepest condolences on the loss of your husband, your love and commitment to him is inspiring. My thanks to you for your perseverance in protecting all.

I can only say what my interpretation was of the post that questioned tox screen and that is....it sounded like the tox screen done would not have included tests for OTC meds. From what I've read there would not need to be a toxic level of an OTC rather it's that the OTC intensifies the absorption of alcohol (might be wrong so please correct).

Again, many thanks for your looking out for us all.:blowkiss:
 
  • #1,035
I'm not sure I understand the direction people are going with the otc stuff. Why would it matter that a dose of tylenol or whatever made one absorb alcohol faster??

10 shots of Vodka would pretty much saturate the woman, regardless of whether she absorbed it slowly or more speedily.

I'm sure there are, of course, plenty of DUI cases where the person has also taken some otc at the same time.... It just doesn't seem to be a salient point, given the whole drunk-out-of-your-mind circumstance, you know?


:confused:
 
  • #1,036
IMO, she should not have even had one shot of vodka while she was driving. Period.
 
  • #1,037
  • #1,038
Has it been notated anywhere what caused the vehicle to catch on fire?

27crash_480.jpg
 
  • #1,039
ITA with you on getting information out there, especially with OTC's since my husband died, at xmas at 35yrs old, as a result of an adverse reaction to Tylenol (Acetaminophen). I spent over 7 years fighting to get information out about it. I finally got justice a couple of months ago when the FDA changed how Acetaminophen products will be sold. BTW, I also meant to state earlier that Acetaminophen poisoning shows up on a liver slide as a distinct almond shaped pattern. That would have shown up in the autopsy as well.

Maybe I'm not getting how something that's not in a tox screen could be a factor in this case?
SuziQ, please accept my sincere condolences for the loss of your dear husband. Thank you for making a difference and for your tenacity at working so hard towards your goal.
 
  • #1,040
I'm not sure I understand the direction people are going with the otc stuff. Why would it matter that a dose of tylenol or whatever made one absorb alcohol faster??

10 shots of Vodka would pretty much saturate the woman, regardless of whether she absorbed it slowly or more speedily.

I'm sure there are, of course, plenty of DUI cases where the person has also taken some otc at the same time.... It just doesn't seem to be a salient point, given the whole drunk-out-of-your-mind circumstance, you know?



DS was drunk and is dead. No debating the un-debatable. imo Once her alcohol level was made public this thread ceased being about DS and became all about 'us'. Our attempts to understand addiction, especially hidden addictions. And to deal with fears whether in regards to oneself or a loved one. As well as for those dealing with addiction, believe someone posted along the lines of talking about their addiction helps them with that addiction.

Are OTC discussions relevant to DS as they pertain to the outcome? No. Could they have spiked alcohol levels suddenly and evoked an unknown-to-her reaction? We will never know.

Many have spoken out on here, and admirably so, of how addiction had not stopped them from driving. imo That means dissecting the ins and outs of what can affect a DWI person.

I do have a concern about the way the tox reports were handled for the following reasons:

July 28, 2009 By MICHAEL AMON

Authorities found no answers to the Taconic State Parkway crash in autopsy results Tuesday and now face a weeks-long wait for toxicology tests......

.......In the next four to eight weeks, Schuler's blood will be tested for evidence of alcohol or drugs, but police said they doubt Schuler was impaired in that way.

New York State Police investigators said Schuler's actions reminded them of accidents they've witnessed involving diabetic drivers experiencing blood sugar problems. "I've seen something like that myself," Bennett said. "I watched a woman drive a mile on the Taconic Parkway and suddenly just went off the road. It turned out it was a diabetic case."

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/...rs-no-explanation-for-taconic-crash-1.1332105

Funeral services for Schuler-Hance family members
July 29, 2009 By STACEY ALTHERR
( held July 30, 2009)
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/...es-for-schuler-hance-family-members-1.1336343


Driver in deadly Taconic crash Diane Schuler was drunk, had marijuana in system

New York Daily News - Submitted: Aug 4, 2009

Results came in Friday(July 31). Cops waited until the burials of the victims to release the results of the tests.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...y_on_the_taconic_killing_8_was_drunk_on_.html



Am not quite understanding how complete and thorough tox testing went from four to eight weeks to 3 days.
 
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