Daniel Smith's Overdose Death

Dr. Lynn Webster, an expert in pain management, has studied methadone related deaths across the country. He has crucial information on how to prevent similar tragedies.

Do you agree Dr. Webster that the combination of these three medications – two anti-depressants and methadone - would have led to such a sudden death in a young, healthy 20 year old male? “I think that’s unusual. There are probably a lot of patients across the country who are treated for chronic pain with methadone and the combination of these two medications. Probably unusual, and rare, for the combination to lead to a death.”

This accidental drug death is certainly a shocking issue, and Dr. Webster has given us some tips for avoiding this kind of problem; I think we should all take heed. Dr. Webster says we should never take a prescription painkiller unless it is prescribed to you, of course. Don’t take pain medication with alcohol. Don’t take more doses than are prescribed. The use of other medications can be dangerous. Don’t take narcotics to help you sleep. Lock up prescription painkillers.

You know, Dr. Webster, these are all tips that to me seem like such common sense that our grandmothers probably told us, but many people violate these rules. “Yes, unfortunately. You know so many people have such an amount of pain that they try to escape the pain by taking an extra medication, an extra pill. So often I think in our culture we’ve thought that if you can take one pill you can take two and you’ll get better pain relief than if you just take one. So often the pain’s not relieved when you even take two. So many patients will chase their pain with additional medications and that can be lethal.”

Dr. Webster, if you don’t think the interaction of these three medications is what caused Daniel Smith’s death, what do you think happened? “I didn’t say I didn’t think it caused, I said it is unlikely. It would be a very uncommon occurrence for the combination to lead to death.”

What about alcohol? Do you think if he had consumed alcohol that would have played a part? “Certainly. Alcohol can enhance the toxicity of all of the medications. But, I think it is important to note that there are two of these medications, methadone and Zoloft, which both can lead to an arrhythmia when they are used separately. But, when they are added together – particularly if he has a history of cardiac disease which was just suggested here – the combination of these different things could lead to a lethal arrhythmia. It’s uncommon, it would be rare, but that is a possibility.”

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