Whitney Houston's Death and Prescription Drug Abuse: Resources for Your Reporting

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Published on
February 14, 2012

prescription drug abuse, whitney houston, reporting on health, addiction, health journalismHere we go again. In the wake of Whitney Houston's death in the bathtub of a Beverly Hills hotel room, attention is once again turning to prescription drug abuse as a possible cause of the singer's death – and to the doctors who may have given them to her.

Anyone remember Conrad Murray? The doctor recently sentenced to four years in jail for his role in Michael Jackson's death?

From today's Los Angeles Times story:

Authorities will compare the amounts of prescription medications gathered from Houston's room at the Beverly Hilton with the amount of medication that was dispensed, when it was filled, as well as who filled it and which doctor or doctors prescribed it. That information could be compared against the prescribing history of one or more doctors who treated Houston

Investigators are expected to speak to Houston's medical team to learn of any underlying medical conditions she might have had. In previous high-profile death investigations, officials have interviewed those who prescribed drugs for the deceased. When Michael Jackson died, authorities spent weeks sorting out his large cache of prescription drugs.

Houston's real cause of death remains to be seen, but media scrutiny of prescription drug abuse and doctors' roles is likely to continue, at least until autopsy results are made public.

A number of California Endowment Health Journalism Fellows have done some excellent reporting on prescription drug abuse at the local level. If you're interested in covering prescription drug abuse in your own community, here are some resources from Center for Health Journalism Digital and elsewhere on the Web.

Reporting Resources:

15 Tips for Smart Reporting on Drug Addiction and Treatment

Conrad Murray Convicted in Michael Jackson's Death: Check Out William Heisel's Early Coverage of Murray

Lessons learned from reporting on prescription drug abuse deaths

Prescription drug abuse takes deadly toll in W. Va.

Devil in the Medicine Cabinet: Some Solutions for Ending the Prescription Drug Epidemic

Kentucky's Bell County devastated by prescription drug deaths

Photo credit: qthomasbower via Flickr