Anna Nicole Smith | 03/13/2009 8:45 am
Howard K. Stern, Doctors, Arrested for Anna Nicole Smith Drug Peddle
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Maybe now Anna Nicole Smith can rest in peace.
More than two years after she died of an accidental overdose of prescription pills in Florida, Smith’s ex, Howard K. Stern, and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor were arrested in L.A. Thursday for providing her with the illegal drugs. Those two, along with psychiatrist and neighbor, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, have been charged with conspiring to "repeatedly and excessively" provide drugs — including opiates, benzodiazepines and other controlled and non-controlled substances — to Smith for three years, according to California Attorney General Edmund Brown.
"These individuals repeatedly and excessively furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith, often for no legitimate medical purpose," Brown said. "There is ample evidence that Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Kapoor violated their ethical obligations as physicians, while Mr. Stern funneled highly addictive drugs to Ms. Smith."
Brown will hold a 10 AM PCT press conference today to discuss the charges and arrests.
Stern was also the former Playboy playmate and reality TV star’s attorney. For a time, it was thought he could be the father of Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn. As it turns out, Larry Birkhead is the father, and the legal wrangling leading up to that determination was a media circus. Smith’s mother is still suing Birkhead for custody over the little girl.
Read more about: Anna Nicole Smith, California, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, Florida, Hard Rock Hotel, Howard K. Stern, News, Overdose, Playboy, Playmate, Prescription Drugs, U.S.
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21 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
This is such a sad story for Anna Nicole…Yes she married that old man for the money & then had to battle for it, was she entitled to any of it, Who is to say, she was legally his wife.
Her daughter will not have to grow up with all the media information about her Mom. That baby never got to actually know her Mother and who she really was. She will only know what she can read and what people will tell her.
I am glad that Howard and her Doctors are finally getting what they deserve…
I saw this last night on TMZ and the responses were all "Finally!" "About time he got arrested!" etc.
I’m glad that wowOwow posted this story, because I’m curious about how the people here will respond.
My first reaction when I heard the news of her death was, "Oh, criminy, here we go again. It’s just like Elvis." Both of them struggled with excess, and doctors who just gave them whatever they wanted because of their celebrity. Liz Taylor is another victim of this type of blatant mal-practice.
It’s good that the doctor got arrested (finally! Did we see that with Elvis or even with Liz Taylor? I don’t think so, but am not sure). I’m not so sure about Howard K. Stern. Did he show lack of judgment? Probably, but it wasn’t his job to monitor her drug intake. The responsibility for that rested with her doctors.
C: I did indeed watch her reality show (recently Netflixed it again since E! has not shown reruns since her death). Anna was indeed whacked on drugs etc. And yes, I believe he could have acted differently in her best interests.
My point is that Howard’s job wasn’t to keep her away from the drugs. He is what people would call an enabler. But even he couldn’t have gotten a hold of all those drugs without prescriptions being written by unethical doctors. If he procured them, then he is guilty of a different crime altogether. But he was NOT the one prescribing the drugs, she was NOT under his medical care, and he is, indeed NOT a medical doctor. Those people should be held responsible for prescribing the doses and meds that she took, whether or not Howard gave her those pills.
On another note: What I thought was sad, was there was one episode where they sold Anna’s paintings for charity. I always thought they would have made great Christmas cards… she was not a bad artist. It would be cool if her estate could do that and give the money to addiction awareness.
I agree that Howard was not prescribing the rx’s for her but he was in on the scam. I do not think he loved her as he said he did, I think he saw nothing but the dollar signs. I wasnt a big Anna fan until I really started to watch and then I saw her in an interview she gave where she wasnt drugged and to see the horror in her eyes when they showed what she looked like…I knew then Howard was up to no good with her.