Accidental OD Killed Ledger

Actor's will pre-dated relationship with Michelle Williams, child's birth

(NEWSER) - The father of late actor Heath Ledger vowed that his son's daughter—and her mother, actress Michelle Williams—will be "taken care of" even though they aren't in Ledger's will, which dates from before their relationship and the 2005 birth of their daughter, Matilda Rose. Ledger's 2003 will left everything to his parents and sister, the Daily News reported. More»

Kermit, West Virginia, home to die-hard addicts

(NEWSER) - A tiny coal-mining town of barely 300 people and no supermarket is home to one booming business: pharmacies. In Kermit, West Virginia, two Sav-Rites alone moved 3.2 million doses of hydrocodone in 2006—a tad more than the 97,000 doses the average pharmacy sells in a year, reports Salon . Their customers were pill addicts from all over the Eastern seaboard. Now prosecutors have closed the Sav-Rites, but more "pill mills" are cropping up in a game of Whac-A-Mole against America's biggest drug menace today: prescription medicine. More»

Medical records will be subpoenaed

(NEWSER) - The investigation into Whitney Houston's death is now turning to her doctors and pharmacies. Investigators are expected in the next few days to serve subpoenas on the singer's physicians and the pharmacies where Houston obtained multiple prescription drugs, reports the Los Angeles Times . Officials aim to determine whether the drugs were dispensed properly, and if the singer was receiving too many prescriptions, a source tells the newspaper. Investigators will likely pore over a state-created database of controlled substances prescribed in California. Tracking celebrity prescription drug use can be complicated because they may regularly use drugs prescribed to aides, according to law enforcement authorities. More»

Friends say addiction not plausible

(NEWSER) - Speculation is swirling around the death of surfing great Andy Irons after police found a variety of prescription drugs in his Dallas hotel room. Police reports indicate that Irons had generic versions of Ambien and Xanax, and the county medical examiner told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that one of the bottles actually contained methadone. But friends and family say the phenom didn’t have a drug problem. More»

It's the most-prescribed psychiatric medication

(NEWSER) - Xanax is king in America—the anti-anxiety drug was prescribed more than any psychiatric medication in 2009, according to PsychCentral . We're a "zonked out" nation, observes Hamilton Nolan at Gawker , noting that the "first speed prescription" (amphetamine salts) doesn't show up until No. 11. Here's the top 10:

1. Xanax
2. Lexapro
3. Ativan
4. Zoloft
5. Prozac