Blonde beauty Anna Nicole Smith made headlines when she married an 89 year-old oil tycoon, made them again when he died and she fought for her inheritance, and again when her son died of an overdose of drugs as she lay sleeping in a nearby hospital bed. Her biggest headlines might have been when she died with eight prescription or over-the-counter drugs in her system. And now, her companion Howard K. Stern and her two doctors have been charged with conspiring to supply her with addictive drugs.
When Anna Nicole collapsed in Florida, doctors found that she had in her system: four anti-anxiety drugs, one antibiotic, one antihistamine, one over-the-counter pain medication and a powerful sleep aid that was the one most likely to have tipped the scales toward her death.
In charges filed in California, these three individuals were charged with conspiring to provide addictive drugs to a person known to be an addict. There were other charges regarding fraudulent prescriptions and unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance.
“When a family member is addicted, other family members may be unaware of the signs and so miss the fact of addiction,” stated Derry Hallmark, the Director of Admissions and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “It might be forgiven in a mom or dad. But these were professionals who should have been helping this person overcome a drug addiction. The fact that they didn’t is what led to these felony charges.
“The right action for a heavily addicted person is to get into an effective rehab as soon as possible,” added Mr. Hallmark. “This way, lives can be saved that otherwise would be lost. This is our specialty at Narconon Arrowhead. Every week, we save people from death or incarceration with our long-term, drug-free program. Seven out of ten of our graduates go on to live drug-free lives. Anna Nicole could perhaps have been saved with a program like this.”
To find immediate help for anyone who is having a problem with any kind of drug or alcohol, contact Narconon’s free addiction consultation and referral helpline at 1-800-468-6933 or visit their website at http://www.stopaddiction.com/. The Narconon program was founded in 1966 by William Benitez in Arizona State prison, and is based on the humanitarian works of L. Ron Hubbard. In more than 90 centers around the world, Narconon programs restore drug and alcohol abusers and addicts to a clean and sober lifestyle.
