By now, you’d have to be a recluse without a TV or access to the internet to not know that Anna Nicole Smith died Thursday in South Florida.  She was found unconscious in her hotel room less than 15 miles from where I live….of unknown causes.  The official autopsy results and toxicology reports are not back yet but prescription drugs were recovered from her hotel room. 

Now I’m the last to point fingers without knowing or hearing all the evidence but Anna Nicole Smith’s death does raise several important issues that I, as a physician, must point out.

First….BEWARE OF YOUR OLD PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS.  Open up your medicine cabinet and take a look at all of the half empty prescription bottles.  There may be antibiotics for your kids when they had an ear ache or prescription narcotics left over from when you had your wisdom teeth pulled or an old bottle of sleeping pills you forgot you had.  Whatever the case may be, you’ll have on average 2 or 3 different prescription medications that you no longer need but keep around “just in case.”

Well, let me tell you….forget about “just in case.”

Forget about using your kids’ old prescription for antibiotics to treat the infection on your skin…..you could make the bacteria on your skin resistant to that antibiotic and turn it into a potent flesh eating bacteria!

Forget about taking those old painkillers to get rid of your backache…..you could have a bad reaction to the pain pills especially if you’re taking other medications or take the painkillers with alcohol….or you could mistakenly take too many potent painkillers just to get rid of the pain and unintentionally overdose!

And forget about taking those old sleeping pills that your grandparents left behind when they visited last year….you could wind up waking up in the middle of the night, half-dazed, thinking that it’s morning and get in your car—just asking to have a car accident.

Don’t think I’m overexaggerating here.  Because I’m not.  I’ve seen all of these scenarios during my medical career and it still amazes me that so many people think that the old prescriptions in their medicine cabinet are harmless. 

Let’s not even think about what could happen if your teenager or your eldery grandparent got a hold of that medication.

The lesson here is this….treat all prescription drugs like keys to your house or your car.  Be mindful where you lay them down, be careful who you give them to and even if someone uses them without your permission or consent, you’ll still wind up responsible for any damages that occur.   

Unfortunately, Anna Nicole Smith was not able to read this post….don’t wind up like her.  Remember that prescription drugs can kill.

To your wellness,

The Health and Wellness Queen

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 10th, 2007 at 1:07 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.