Radio host Art Bell died of accidental drug overdose

[Fansome]

Radio host Art Bell died of accidental drug overdose
By Blake Apgar   / Las Vegas Review-Journal
August 1, 2018 - 10:37 am
 
Updated August 1, 2018 - 4:05 pm

Longtime Pahrump radio personality Art Bell died of an accidental overdose from a cocktail of prescription drugs, the Clark County coroner’s office said Wednesday.

Bell died April 13 in a bedroom of his Pahrump home at age 72. The coroner’s office determined he had four prescription medications in his system: the opioid oxycodone, the analgesic hydrocodone, diazepam, often marketed as Valium, and carisoprodol, a muscle-relaxant. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertension contributed to his death, the coroner’s office said.

The drugs that killed Bell were lawfully prescribed to him, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office said in a video posted to Facebook.

Bell was known as the late-night host, engineer and producer of the show “Coast to Coast AM.” He specialized in talking about all things weird, including UFOs, alien abductions and crop circles, on his nationally syndicated show to as many as 15 million people nightly. After retiring from hosting full time in 2003, he started his own satellite radio show from his home.

His work captured the imaginations of long-haul truckers and insomniacs alike during his late-night shows. He was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2006 and into the National Radio Hall of Fame two years later.

Bell stepped away from radio for good in 2015, about five months after launching “Midnight in the Desert.”

[Pigmeat]

It happens more than you think. As Al knows, I recently cracked a couple of ribs after tripping over a toy the cat left at the head of the stairs and taking a head long plunge down the stairs. (Thank God, I like Al Bundy, played HS football and had been taught
how to land.) My seizure med interacts with opiates to suppress breathing. They gave me a 'script for the lowest dose of oxycodone on the market and told me to take it three times a day. It helped for the first few days, but Ibuprofen worked just as well afterwards, so I never got it refilled. It wasn't worth the risk.

When I was in my early 20's, I knew an old alky who'd been given Valium for his DT's. It kept him off the booze until the day he decided to go on a bender. He passed out and never woke up. I've known of several drunks who have died the same way after rehab over the years. Their tolerance for alcohol drops, but they try to drink like they did before in their little hops off the wagon. The graveyard is packed with them. Read those warning labels and talk to your doc before you mix drugs.