Now the detective work should begin

The cause of death for Anna Nichole was released; accidental overdose was the official ruling, death from a lethal combination of medications.

If there is one important factor that has come forward, it is that it is very apparent when it comes to celebrities, regulations governing controlled substances simply do not apply. This overprescribing and overall lack of concern by some of the medical profession should be immediately investigated by the DEA and medical oversight boards, punishing those responsible to insure a message is sent, this is not the proper practice.

I recently read a list of the controlled substances found in her possession during the course of the investigation, I believe it was from a link on the celebrity site, TMZ, but I may be mistaken. In any event, as an old police officer, there were a few things which caught my attention. The possession of multiple prescriptions for controlled substances from a number of different physicians should never have occurred. Had this come to light while Anna Nichole was alive and well, she could have been charged under a law known as Doctor shopping.

For those unfamiliar, here is the Wikipedia definition of Doctor shopping,

Wikipedia – Doctor Shopping:

The concept of doctor shopping relates to a patient's addiction or reliance on a certain prescription drug or other medical treatment. Usually a patient will be treated by their normal physician and be prescribed a drug that is necessary for the legitimate treatment of their current medical condition. Once that condition has been successfully treated however, most conscientious physicians will not continue to provide their patients with the medications that they were taking. These patients will now actively seek out other physicians to obtain more of the same medication, often by faking or exaggerating the extent of their true condition, in order to feed their addiction to that drug. Some patients have been known to go so far as to break or chip teeth and visit emergency rooms complaining of toothaches to receive prescription painkillers.

Another thing that should be questioned was the various names, fictitious and otherwise, the prescriptions were filled under. Granted, due to her celebrity status the use of aliases may be a common practice, but the fact remains this is a violation of laws pertaining to prescribing and filling controlled substances.

Let’s not forget the fact of physicians prescribing controlled substances without the patient being under their care. All in all, there were so many federal control laws broken and outright ignored that they should be looking into how this happened in the first place, instead of the circus atmosphere around her death. Has any federal authority even questioned how or why this happened? Perhaps this woman would still be alive had someone said, no this is against the law and you need long-term help to stop this practice.

It is very apparent that all of the federal regulation governing prescription medication simply does not apply to some individuals. The end result is the very reason the laws were put into effect in the first place, death.

Federal authorities should be investigating everyone concerned in this travesty, including Howard K. himself. Here was an individual with direct daily contact with Anna Nichole, filming the now famous clown video and someone even commented seeing Howard K. brining large bags of narcotics into the house and saying that she needed them to survive. TMZ reported that Anna Nichole’s bodyguard, Big Moe, the person who along with his wife had tried to resuscitate Anna Nichole told the Seminole police department that in the months leading to her death, he had seen Howard K. giving Anna some type of drugs. The report did not elaborate on what the medication was, but Big Moe reportedly stated that “Anna was in a cloud”. Of course, this proves nothing, the medication could have been aspirin, however, the questions should be, “what was he giving her?”

Rush Limbaugh, the radio talk show personality was charged with the very Doctor Shopping law I was discussing. How is it that he can be investigated, yet Anna Nichole flagrantly violated much more and after her death, nothing is being done to insure the prescribing physicians do not continue the practice?

Howard K. Stern should be investigated, as well as every physician who prescribed and pharmacy that filled any and all medications. This should not be ignored, it should be well investigated and anyone found guilty should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.