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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARY KANSAN TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2007
>> SMITH AUTOPSY
Anna Nicole's death by overdose presumed accidental
BY MATT SEDENSKY ASSOCIATED PRESS
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — Anna Nicole Smith overdosed on at least nine prescription drugs, including a powerful sleep syrup she was known to sigh right out of the bottle
— after a miserable last few days in which she endured stomach flu, a 105-degree fever, pungent sweating and an infection on her buttocks from repeated injections.
In a detailed autopsy report released Monday, a medical examiner noted the former Playboy playmate refused to go to a hospital three days before her Feb. 8 death. She chose to ride out her illness in a hotel suite littered with pill bottles, soda cans, SlimFast, nicotine gum and an open box of Tamifu tablets.
Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper found that in the days leading up to her death, the 39-year-old Smith had been taking large amounts of the
seldom prescribed sedative chloral hydrate; which also contributed to the 1962 overdose death of Smith's idol, Marilyn Monroe.
Police found no apparent signs of foul play, and the medical examiner also ruled Smith's death probably was not a suicide because people who take their own lives typically use much more lethal drugs than chloride hydrate.
Rather, he said, Smith might have been simply unaware that the sedative could be fatal in combination with multiple other prescriptions she was taking in normal doses for anxiety, depression and insomnia.
Contributing factors included her weakened condition from a stomach flu and fever brought on by a pus-filled infection on her buttocks from repeated injection of other drugs.
"She may have taken the dosages she was accustomed to but succumbed because she was already weakened." Perper said in his report. "Miss Smith has a long history of
prescription drug abuse and self-medicated in the past"
The recommended dose of chloral hydrate is one to two teaspoons prior to bed. Smith often took two tablespoons, and she sometimes drank directly from the bottle, the report said.
A statement issued by lawyers for Howard K. Stern, Smith's companion who was with her before her death, said that Stern and Smith's physician urged her to get emergency treatment but she refused because "she did not want the media frenzy that follows her."
"She refused to go to the hospital because she wanted to avoid media," said attorney Lilly Ann Sanchez in a statement. "Anna called the shots in Anna's life and everyone close to her knows that."
The autopsy report left some unanswered questions such as why it took so long for emergency personnel to be summoned when Smith was discovered unresponsive on Feb.
8 in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
The report found that a private nurse had asked a bodyguard to call 911 around 1 p.m. and had started CPR. The Seminole EMS was called about 1:40 p.m. by a bodyguard and arrived six minutes later. The ambulance reached the hospital at 2:43 p.m., and Smith was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
Perper said Smith could have been saved had she been hospitalized earlier in the week simply because her drug intake could have been controlled.
"If she would have gone to the hospital she wouldn't have died because she wouldn't have had the opportunity to take the excessive amount of chloral hydrate," he told The Associated Press.
But Perper said the lag in calling 911 on the day of Smith's death probably didn't matter.
"The earlier you come to a hospital the more you have a chance,
but there's not a guarantee," he said. "Those are not things with a mathematic precision, but within a reasonably degree of medical certainty. I don't think she had really a realistic chance."
Perper said he believed at least three doctors had prescribed Smith drugs using a number of aliases, but all the medication was meant for her.
Sanchez said the chloral hydrate was prescribed for Smith last year after Smith's 20-year-old son Daniel died in the Bahamas of apparent drug-related causes.
Perpeal said Smith also had been on several antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs and had recently been injecting herself with purported longevity medications, vitamin B-12 and growth hormone.
She felt ill shortly after arriving in Fort Lauderdale from the Bahamas on Feb. 5 on a trip with Stern to buy a new yacht. But that illness was brought under control by antibiotics and an ice bath. She also suffered intense, pungent sweating that soaked the sheets.
Seminole Tribal Police Chief Charlie Tiger said investigators found nothing unusual on laptop computers belonging to Smith and Stern. Tiger also said nothing came up during an exhaustive review of tapes from hotel security cameras and from interviews with numerous witnesses.
The public airing of the details of Smith's death reflected the way she lived her life.
The medical examiner's report was accompanied by a press release and even a PowerPoint presentation.
Among the excruciating details were descriptions of Smiths breast-enhancement scars, her pink hair extensions and numerous tattoos, including one of a Playboy bunny, a Bible intertwined with a heart and shooting flames, and the smiling face of Marilyn Monroe.
CELEBRITIES
Daniel Mears/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kim Mathers, ex-wife of award winning rap superstar Eminem, and her attorney, Michael J. Smith, arrive at the Friend of the Court offices in the Macombo County Courthouse to work out an agreement with Eminem and his attorney, Harvey Hauer, on Monday in Mt. Clemens, Mich. Eminem and Mathers agreed Monday not to criticize each other public. The decision to make nice was made following a court hearing in which the on-again, off-again couple agreed that insulting each other could prove harmful to their 11-year-old daughter, Hallie.
BY COREY WILLIAMS ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eminem, ex-wife: No more insults
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich.
Eminem and Kim Mathers agreed
Monday not to criticize each other in
public for the sake of their daughter.
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The decision was made following a court bearing in which the 34-year-old rap superstar and his ex-wife agreed that insulting each other could prove harmful to their 11-year-old daughter, Haillie.
Eminem filed a motion in Macomb County Circuit Court earlier this month that sought to prevent Mathers from making "derogatory, disparaging, inflammatory and otherwise negative comments" about him in the media.
Mathers, who has twice married and divorced the rapper, blasted Eminem in recent TV and radio interviews, including one on a Detroit radio station in which she said he was unfaithful and uncaring — and disparaged his sexual prowess.
She attended the hearing and a closed-door meeting beforehand in the chambers of Friend of the Court Referee David Elias, Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers
III, wasn't in court, but spoke by telephone in Elas chambers.
The two sides agreed to the deal, which was announced at the court hearing.
"We're happy the court was able to bring this matter to a just and equitable resolution," Eminem's lawyer, Harvey Hauer, said outside the courtroom.
Michael J. Smith, Mathers' attorney, said the decision was reached "for the full benefit of the child."
However, Smith said the order doesn't prohibit Eminem from performing songs in which he is critical of his former wife.
Smith said Eminem and Mathers have "to attempt to promote a good relationship" and "can't talk bad about each other to the child."
The couple married in 1999, divorced in 2001, remarried in January 2006 and separated three months later.
》 SMITHSONIAN
Museum official steps down Secretary resigns amid talk of questionable spending
BY BRETT ZONGKER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian Institution announced Monday that its top official, Secretary Lawrence M. Small, has resigned amid criticism about his spending.
Small, the first businessman to run the 160-year-old museum and research complex, resigned over the weekend after more than seven years as secretary. The decision was unanimously accepted Sunday by the Smithsonian's Board of Regents.
"His long service and outstanding service were weighed against the current contrary feelings among some people in the community," said Roger Sant, chairman of the Smithsonian board's executive committee. "It was a very hard, conflicted decision."
Cristian Samper, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, was appointed acting secretary while the regents conduct a nationwide search for a permanent replacement.
An internal audit in January found that Small had made $90,000 in unauthorized expenses, including private jet travel and expensive gifts.
The audit also found that Small charged the Smithsonian more than $1.1 million for agreeing to use his 6,500-square-foot home in the affluent Woodley Park neighborhood of Washington for official functions. The housing expenses included $273,000 for housekeeping, $2,535 to clean a chandelier and $12,000 for service on his backyard swimming pool.
On Thursday, the Senate approved freezing a proposed $17 million increase in funding for the Smithsonian, citing Small's excessive compensation and spending.
Small was to earn $915,698 this year in total compensation — more than double what he earned during
his first year as secretary in 2000. Small will not be given a severance package and did not ask for any final compensation, said Patty Stonesie, co-chair of the board.
"Having spent countless days and evenings promoting the interests of the Institution and having contributed over half a million dollars of my own money as well, it has truly been a labor of love." Small wrote in his resignation letter.
Sant said he helped Small weigh his options in recent days.
"I think (Small) was really concerned about the possibility of the institution being changed fundamentally" after members
of Congress ques-
tioned the Smithsonian's funding and governance;
Sant said. He added that it was difficult to ignore the Senate's vote to withhold an increase in Smithsonian funding.
of community service.
"He really feels the fundamental nature of the institution has been attacked, and he's very upset about that."
Last year, Small angered historians and filmmakers when he signed a 30-year semi-exclusive contract to create a new TV unit with Showtime Networks Inc., because it could limit access to Smithsonian resources.
In Samper, 41, the Smithsonian board chose a Harvard University-trained biologist more closely tied to Smithsonian tradition. The first nine secretaries were all scientists. He joined the Smithsonian in 2001 as deputy director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Samper, who is from Costa Rica and grew up
"He really feels the fundamental nature of the institution has been attacked, and he's very upset about that," Sant said.
ROGER SANT
Smithsonian board chairman
Small, 65, was the 11th secretary at the Smithsonian, which includes 18 museums, the National Zoo and a 19th museum under development. He was criticized early in his tenure for imposing changes without the support of museum staff. Scientists complained that he eliminated funding for research and neglected improvements to museum facilities.
In 2004, Small was convicted on a federal charge of importing South American headdresses that included feathers from endangered birds for his personal collection. A judge sentenced Small to two years of probation and 100 hours
the board of regents to continue strengthening and building the public trust in the Smithsonian", Samper said. "I think the institution stands for many important values in American society".
in Colombia became the director of the natural history museum in 2003.
"I look forward to working with all of my colleagues at the other museums and our supporters and
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who has been calling for change at the Smithsonian, said Small's resignation was a positive first step.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as chancellor of the Smithsonian, also offered praise for Small.
Sant praised Small's tenure, saying he raised $1 billion for the institution, which he said was a record.
"The Board recognizes that the Smithsonian Institution has benefited greatly from your leadership and dedication," he said in a letter to Small, accepting his resignation.
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