Tom Petty Dies at age 66

[KCGeezer]

DW talks about attending UF in the early 70's and the best local bar band was Mudcrutch. Yep, Petty was lead singer. She's been a fan ever since.

 

[ronin]

Died a rocker's death. What a waste, him and Prince and how many others?

accidental OD

 

[Scrapr]

Did a freaking 53 city tour with a broken hip? Talk about commitment to his fans

RIP Tom Petty (again)

 

[FlaGator]

Died a rocker's death. What a waste, him and Prince and how many others?

accidental OD

One of the reasons I safely discarded all of my late wife's excess drugs from her cancer treatment. Would have been easy to grab them when I had a herniated disk a year later that kept me from sleeping more than 2 hours at a time. Better now, and glad I gutted it out and didn't do what could have been easy at the time, but harder to deal with later.

 

[easysurfer]

Did a freaking 53 city tour with a broken hip? Talk about commitment to his fans

RIP Tom Petty (again)

Did he too damage his hip from moving about too much onstage over the years?

Hip injury, then really strong pain killers, then overdose. Sounds like a pattern. First Prince and now Tom Petty.

Both gone too soon.

 

[candrew]

Died a rocker's death. What a waste, him and Prince and how many others?

+1

Winehouse, Cobain, Morrison, Joplin, Hendrix to name but a few that immediately come to mind.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

+1

Winehouse, Cobain, Morrison, Joplin, Hendrix to name but a few that immediately come to mind.

One big difference with Petty -- the drugs that killed him were prescribed. He was on a long list of painkillers and other psychotropic drugs by one or more doctor's orders. Someone should look closely into that.

 

[aaronc879]

One big difference with Petty -- the drugs that killed him were prescribed. He was on a long list of painkillers and other psychotropic drugs by one or more doctor's orders. Someone should look closely into that.

Having just gone thru a broken hip I can tell you that opioid pain killers is absolutely necessary. It's not the doctors fault for prescribing them. That's what he should do... must do. It's Petty's(patient) fault for taking too many at one time. I was on Oxycodone for 4 months but I only took what I needed to control the pain. I started with 12(5mg) a day the first week or two then gradually went down to 1-2 a day until I didn't need them anymore. I never got "high" from it and when I stopped I didn't have any withdrawal. The drugs aren't bad, how people are abusing them is bad.

 

[candrew]

One big difference with Petty -- the drugs that killed him were prescribed. He was on a long list of painkillers and other psychotropic drugs by one or more doctor's orders. Someone should look closely into that.

True dat.

Petty would also have had the influence and $$ to continue taking prescription opioids. Other regular folks, lacking the financial means and influence, find themselves turning to cheaper street drugs like heroin.

 

[harley]

One big difference with Petty -- the drugs that killed him were prescribed. He was on a long list of painkillers and other psychotropic drugs by one or more doctor's orders. Someone should look closely into that.

When you have money and people someone will know a doc or docs that will write the prescriptions. I'm not sure there's any way to stop that.

 

[MRG]

True dat.

Petty would also have had the influence and $$ to continue taking prescription opioids. Other regular folks, lacking the financial means and influence, find themselves turning to cheaper street drugs like heroin.

Or in the case I had my then PCP continued to reduce the dosage while the pain stayed the same. He didn't want me to have a problem, I guess he didn't consider me going for a walk with a 44 magnum a problem.

Instead friends chipped in various pain meds, muscle relaxers, benzos.... I was in more danger from him withholding meds than if he'd have prescribed adequately.

In the end when I got to pain management they precribed adequate meds and explained how I was to taper off of them.

 

[aaronc879]

Or in the case I had my then PCP continued to reduce the dosage while the pain stayed the same. He didn't want me to have a problem, I guess he didn't consider me going for a walk with a 44 magnum a problem.

Instead friends chipped in various pain meds, muscle relaxers, benzos.... I was in more danger from him withholding meds than if he'd have prescribed adequately.

In the end when I got to pain management they precribed adequate meds and explained how I was to taper off of them.

I agree. Withholding opiods from someone who is in the amount of pain needed to require opioids is more dangerous than taking the opioids. I have no doubt that the push to eliminate opioid prescriptions will result in more suicide deaths than it will prevent in overdose deaths.

 

[candrew]

Or in the case I had my then PCP continued to reduce the dosage while the pain stayed the same. He didn't want me to have a problem, I guess he didn't consider me going for a walk with a 44 magnum a problem.

Instead friends chipped in various pain meds, muscle relaxers, benzos.... I was in more danger from him withholding meds than if he'd have prescribed adequately.

In the end when I got to pain management they precribed adequate meds and explained how I was to taper off of them.

I agree. Withholding opiods from someone who is in the amount of pain needed to require opioids is more dangerous than taking the opioids. I have no doubt that the push to eliminate opioid prescriptions will result in more suicide deaths than it will prevent in overdose deaths.

Agreed on both counts. As MRG indicates, unmanaged and uncontrollable pain can lead to equally detrimental or even worse consequences than the use of opiods. One can't over emphasize the importance of a fully engaged physician/clinician in helping to manage their patients on-going needs when it comes to pain management and prescription pain-killers.

 

[W2R]

According to the AP,

The Los Angeles coroner's office issued its official findings, which confirmed that Petty had a variety of medications, including fentanyl and oxycodone, in his system.
Petty suffered from emphysema, a fractured hip and knee problems that caused him pain, the family said, but he was still committed to touring.

(bolded emphasis mine)
Wow. It's amazing that he continued touring.

 

[GrayHare]

Another difference with Petty is age. He was 66 while many other ODing musicians, particularly those circa 1970, were much younger.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I agree. Withholding opiods from someone who is in the amount of pain needed to require opioids is more dangerous than taking the opioids. I have no doubt that the push to eliminate opioid prescriptions will result in more suicide deaths than it will prevent in overdose deaths.

People in pain got by for many years before oxycodone came along. I'm not saying it doesn't have its place. After I had open double hernia surgery, I was certainly happy to have a Vicodin prescription.

But oxycodone on top of Fentanyl (certainly a more potent drug than oxy), plus Xanax, Ristoril and Celexa ... I'm not a physician, but that looks like a whole lot of head candy to me.

 

[aaronc879]

People in pain got by for many years before oxycodone came along. I'm not saying it doesn't have its place. After I had open double hernia surgery, I was certainly happy to have a Vicodin prescription.

But oxycodone on top of Fentanyl (certainly a more potent drug than oxy), plus Xanax, Ristoril and Celexa ... I'm not a physician, but that looks like a whole lot of head candy to me.

I'm not a doctor but I would think Fentanyl should only be prescribed to end stage cancer patients. Oxycodone is ideal for post surgical pain followed by Vicodin a few weeks later. Oxycodone shouldn't be a long term solution. Vicodin or Morphine would be better for chronic but more moderate pain.

I assume Petty got meds from more than one doctor and that's when things can get dangerous.

 

[ncbill]

You can bet the authorities are already investigating who prescribed what, how much, and how often.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I'm not a doctor but I would think Fentanyl should only be prescribed to end stage cancer patients. Oxycodone is ideal for post surgical pain followed by Vicodin a few weeks later. Oxycodone shouldn't be a long term solution. Vicodin or Morphine would be better for chronic but more moderate pain.

I assume Petty got meds from more than one doctor and that's when things can get dangerous.

Agree on all counts.