Kukla's Korner Hockey
Report: Boogaard’s Cause of Death
by Alanah McGinley on 05/20/11 at 02:18 PM ET
Comments (6)
From Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, via Twitter:
Derek Boogaard’s manner of death is accidental mixture of alcohol and oxycodone toxicity - per Hennepin Cty ME
Note: Drugs.com notes that the mix of alcohol and oxycodone is a primary concern. “Do not drink alcohol while you are taking oxycodone. Dangerous side effects or death can occur when alcohol is combined with a narcotic pain medicine.”
Update 1:38pm ET: The Associated Press (via TSN) is reporting the same news as above.
Update 2:00pm ET: Michael Russo’s blog post is up here.
Update 2:12pm ET: More from Russo—
Just spoke with the Boogaards. A family press release will be issued soon, as well as input from the #NHLPA
Update 5:02pm ET: via Russo, the statement from the Boogaard family:
“Earlier today, we received the results of Derek’s toxicology report at the time of his accidental death. After repeated courageous attempts at rehabilitation and with the full support of the New York Rangers, the NHLPA, and the NHL, Derek had been showing tremendous improvement but was ultimately unable to beat this opponent. While he played and lived with pain for many years, his passion for the game, his teammates, and his community work was unstoppable.
Our family would like to like to thank the New York Rangers, the Minnesota Wild, the National Hockey League Players’ Association, and the National Hockey League for supporting Derek’s continued efforts in his battle.”
read the entire statement here
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: derek+boogaard
Comments
yes it is !! I have had 2 friends die of Alcoholism ! Alcoholism & Drug Abuse are a Terrible thing 1
Posted by Evilpens on 05/20/11 at 03:22 PM ET
To be fair, I don’t think anyone is alleging alcoholism necessarily—at least at this point. The cause of death is listed as the combination of the pain medicine and alcohol… which could surely happen to anyone, regardless of whether they have an addiction or not. For all we know, his entrance into the substance abuse program through the NHLPA was due to an oxycodone addiction. Not an uncommon problem in itself.
Not that any of this matters, I suppose. And you’re right, alcoholism and drug use is devastating and dangerous, for sure.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 05/20/11 at 03:29 PM ET
This isn’t necessarily an overdose.
A lot of the time doctors will tell you not to take alcohol with something they prescribe just to CtAes, even if it’s, like, prescription strength sun-screen and there are no side-effects for doing so.
But oxycodone is one of the cases where mixing it with alcohol can be very lethal and in small amounts. I had this prescribed to me once for a broken bone and the doctor in question was kind enough to explain to me “don’t drink alcohol with this” was a warning of the “28% (or whatever it was) chance of death or coma” variety and not the “doctor might get sued if I would have a beer after taking the pill, wreck a car and blame it on him” variety.
I could see a lot of people, Boogaard included, ignoring the warning if it wasn’t given in uncertain terms like I was.
Posted by steviesteve on 05/20/11 at 03:52 PM ET
We lost a beautiful 23 year old girl in our family to this same combination.
It’s a trajedy that occurs all too often given the ease of access to these pills.
Posted by MOWingsfan19 from I really like our team on 05/20/11 at 03:54 PM ET
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That’s so sad.
Posted by peanutflower from Victoria BC on 05/20/11 at 02:29 PM ET