Cocaine contributed to death of TV pitchman Billy Mays

[JessicaR]

I am betting that the pain meds he was on had cocaine in them. .

Please name a prescription pain med that contains cocaine.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I think alot of people do jump to conclusions when they hear something like that. It is not necessary to judge until all the fact have been released.
Of course the family will come to the defense, but face it, if it were one of our family members we might also.
If you read what the family said, "As those who were close to Billy knew, he had been in chronic pain for more than two years and was about to have his third hip surgery in 18 months. His use of prescription pain medication for his hip condition was guided by his physician and was at recommended usage levels," the family said.
Unless someone on these boards is the Dr of Mays and his family then wait to see what type of medication was in his system at the time of death. I am betting that the pain meds he was on had cocaine in them. I don't have a PDR anymore since I stopped working as a nurse but I do remember some patients who were on cocaine based meds for severe pain when I worked on the neuro floor.
And frankly, who's business is it how he died, HE DIED too young. Just like people buy those junk magazines to see what is said about how Michael Jackson died. I hope when and if any family members of these boards die of questionable causes others leave them and their families alone.

Wow! I did not know that some prescription meds had cocaine in them! Can you list them (if you remember)? I know people who are in recovery from addiction and would definitely like to pass this information on to them.

 

[LivinInTheCastle]

I was shocked when I heard this. It sucks for those he left behind.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

As I have learned from watching Nancy Grace cover the Casey Anthony case Florida really puts everything out there for the public to see!

It was all done looooonnnnngggg before Casey Anthony.

 

[ma2jr]

I heard... as well as some prescription drugs. Is everyone in Hollywood on both pain and anti-anxiety meds?

 

[raysnkaysmom]

I had heard cocaine as well as oxycodone (sp)... I was surprised...

Most of all, I am disappointed that this information was released. I hope that the family sues...

My DBF said this as well... he thought it shouldnt' be released. I said I thought it was public record... But, really, I dont' see why it shouldnt' be. I look at it this way... if you are doing something that you dont' want people knowing about, you probably shouldnt' be doing it....

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Wow! I did not know that some prescription meds had cocaine in them! Can you list them (if you remember)? I know people who are in recovery from addiction and would definitely like to pass this information on to them.

Googling right now and the only one I can find is a Topical numbing agent.

http://fdb.rxlist.com/drugs/drug-1383-Cocaine+Top.aspx?drugid=1383&drugname=Cocaine+Top


There are a number of meds that can cause false positives in urine test. But I would presume a toxicology report from an autopsy to be more thorough.

http://www.passyourdrugtest.com/false-positives.htm



And while we must always be careful with wikipedia--this is the ONLY legal use I found:

Cocaine as a local anesthetic

Cocaine hydrochloride for medicinal use.Cocaine was historically useful as a topical anesthetic in eye and nasal surgery, although it is now predominantly used for nasal and lacrimal duct surgery

In Australia it is currently prescribed for use as a local anesthetic for conditions such as mouth and lung ulcers. Some ENT specialists occasionally use cocaine within the practice when performing procedures such as nasal cauterization

In 2005, researchers from Kyoto University Hospital proposed the use of cocaine in conjunction with phenylephrine administered in the form of an eye drop as a diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease.[82]

It seems it is a numbing agent/topical and used for eye and nasal surgeries.

Billy Mays had hip surgery.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I had heard cocaine as well as oxycodone (sp)... I was surprised...



My DBF said this as well... he thought it shouldnt' be released. I said I thought it was public record... But, really, I dont' see why it shouldnt' be. I look at it this way... if you are doing something that you dont' want people knowing about, you probably shouldnt' be doing it....

I have to say I agree with you. Perhaps it will stop one person from trying cocaine. Who knows....

It seems to me the amount of drugs in Hollywood is mind boggling! So sad...

 

[honugirl]

Cocaine packets are used in certain brain surgeries. I wasn't aware of this when I went in for mine. I found out about it after I read the surgical report. They used them in my nose and in my sinuses. The first, last and only time I've ever used illicit drugs and I wasn't even aware at the time to enjoy them!

Anyway, I'm pretty sad to hear this. I really liked Billy. I'm honestly wondering if he was self medicating because of the pain. Hip pain is horrible.

Wherever he is, I'm sure he's hocking Oxi clean in heaven. I miss that guy...

 

[shrubber]

Hi, billy mays here for white line pro!!!!

 

[shortbun]

Guess I know too much about addicts. I've always told my husband, 'that guy's a coke head.' He just had that look and personality. As a daughter, grand daughter, sister, friend, past partner of addicts and trained crisis counselor-I can spot 'em in a grocery store. There's just an aura.

 

[Rora]

Maybe this is why he always felt the urge to scream on TV?

I felt bad about his death but when information like this is diclosed, I typically don't feel quite as bad. Nevertheless, a cocaine addiction is horrible and I feel for him in that regard.

 

[rie'smom]

Per TMZ:

"Official documents show the following drugs were in Mays' system -- hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone (painkiller), alprazolam (Xanax), nordiazepam (Valium), benzoylecgonine (byproduct of cocaine) and temazepam (anti-anxiety). Ethanol -- alcohol -- was also in Mays' system."

All those drugs PLUS alcohol

 

[ameraumi]

Add me to the list that is really shocked!

I am suprised with all those used together didn't mess up his stomach. DH was on most of those same meds, all at the same time, during his treatments. The tamazepam was used as a sleeping aid, not anti-anxiety. But the combo of all the pain killers, anti-nausea meds, and sleep aid caused gastroparesis in DH.

I am just so sad for Billy's family that this has to be plastered all over the news. Dealing with grief myself, I don't know how they can be handling this on top of losing him.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Guess I know too much about addicts. I've always told my husband, 'that guy's a coke head.' He just had that look and personality. As a daughter, grand daughter, sister, friend, past partner of addicts and trained crisis counselor-I can spot 'em in a grocery store. There's just an aura.

I grew up with addicts in my home. Even though I was a child at the time, I can still vividly remember how people acted in their addiction. It just never leaves you, does it?

 

[Pin Wizard]

If you go to www.PDR.net and search Full Drug Label for cocaine, you will have 29 hits. These include Wellbutrin, Percocet, Percodan, Ambien, and Zyban among them. All prescribed all the time.

With the drugs he was taking for hip pain alone, I would think it might be easy to overdue it at some point. Unbearable pain and then taking a drug in a time period shorter than it should have been taken.

 

[Poohbear123]

OK, so he wasn't "sniffing" cocaine he was taking something that had Cocaine IN IT! WOW, never knew it came in a form like that! I am 51 been around the block a few times, and NEVER KNEW that Cocaine can be found in other places...shows how much I know about illegal drugs...

 

[lillygator]

I've always thought he was on something.

this was speculated on long age....our radio station did a song on him about the oxy aspect...it was pretty funny actually.

 

[crashbb]

If you go to www.PDR.net and search Full Drug Label for cocaine, you will have 29 hits. These include Wellbutrin, Percocet, Percodan, Ambien, and Zyban among them. All prescribed all the time.

With the drugs he was taking for hip pain alone, I would think it might be easy to overdue it at some point. Unbearable pain and then taking a drug in a time period shorter than it should have been taken.

Percocet does NOT contain cocaine. It is a combination of oxycodone and acetaminophen. Did you read the Full Drug Label? People crush and snort percocet in order to get a high similar to that of cocaine, but percocet itself does not contain any cocaine and the by products of percocet (an opiate) do not include benzoylecgonine (which is a by-product of cocaine).

I don't have time to go through all the other full drug labels, but I suspect you'll find a similar thing.

 

[bumbershoot]

Per TMZ:

"Official documents show the following drugs were in Mays' system -- hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone (painkiller), alprazolam (Xanax), nordiazepam (Valium), benzoylecgonine (byproduct of cocaine) and temazepam (anti-anxiety). Ethanol -- alcohol -- was also in Mays' system."

I wasn't surprised to find out that he had been using cocaine...I never thought about it while he was alive, but it didn't surprise me.

It does surprise me that people take so many drugs, and that doctors prescribe so many drugs at once. And to think of taking cocaine on top of all that...bleah.

Percocet does NOT contain cocaine. It is a combination of oxycodone and acetaminophen. Did you read the Full Drug Label? People crush and snort percocet in order to get a high similar to that of cocaine, but percocet itself does not contain any cocaine and the by products of percocet (an opiate) do not include benzoylecgonine (which is a by-product of cocaine).

I don't have time to go through all the other full drug labels, but I suspect you'll find a similar thing.

I figured the search was going to turn up something like that. Always gotta watch out for "search" terms, b/c they'll just take a word on the page which might have nothing to do with anything.