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Whitney Houston's "Valley of the Dolls"

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Found dead floating in her bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Feb. 11, 48-year-old Grammy-award-winning pop singer Whitney Houston becomes the latest casualty of celebrity success, detailed in Jacqueline Suzanne’s classic 1966 novel “Valley of the Dolls.” While the names, faces and generations change, the same insidious obsession claims the lives of far-too-many celebrities, caught up with all the glitz-and-glamour and endless exposure to intolerable stress, brutal expectations and destructive use of drugs and alcohol. After rocketing to stardom with her debut album “All My Love for You” with Arista Records in 1985, Houston took the music industry by storm winning numerous accolades at the 1986 American Music and Grammy Awards. She was the female equivalent of Michael Jackson, whose own life crashed-and-burned June 25, 2009 at the hands of Dr. Conrad Murray.

While prescribed drugs by her personal physicians, Whitney didn’t die, like Jackson, at the guilty hands of her doctors. “She has been positively identified by friends by friends and family [who] were with her at the hotel, and next of kin have already been notified,” said Beverly Hills Police spokesman Mark Rosen, pronouncing her dead at 14:55 [3:55 Pacific Standard Time] or 23.55 [GMT]. Houston sold 170 million albums during the ‘80s and ‘90s, before succumbing in early 2000 to drug and alcohol problems, forcing her into early retirement. Her rocky 1992 marriage to singer Bobby Brown, drug and alcohol abuse were reported widely in the tabloids. By 2002, Houston gave an interview to Diane Sawyer, denying rumors of “crack” cocaine abuse. After stints in rehah and divorcing Brown April 27, 2007, Whitney eventually released a compilation album in Oct. 2007.

For those that knew Houston’s battle with drugs, alcohol and her personal life, they weren’t shocked by her death. “I am absolutely heartbroken at the news of Whitney’s passing,” said iconic music producer Quincy Jones, regretting not working with her on a joint project. “I always regretted not having had the opportunity to work with her. She was a true original and a talent beyond compare. I will miss her terribly,” summing up the phenomenal loss to the music industry of yet another great talent. Fingers now point at Whitney’s doctors, much the same way they did at Jackson’s following his death. While declaring herself clean on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2010, relapse rates for drugs and alcohol are notoriously high. Despite recoveries in rehab, sometimes anti-anxiety benzodiazapine drugs, like Xanax, mixed with alcohol lead to inadvertent deaths.

Beverly Hills Police indicated they were conducting a thorough investigation to rule out foul play or criminal negligence by any of Whitney’s doctors. Saying Whitney was found “underwater and unconscious” Feb. 11, Beverly Hills Police indicated an autopsy would eventually reveal the cause of death. While the coroner’s report is not yet out, reports at the crime scene suspect a combination of Xanax and alcohol. Assistant Chief Los Angeles Coroner Ed Winter said his office was subpoenaing Houston’s doctors and pharmacies related to the pop singer’s death. “We’ve already contacted a number of doctors with requests for records,” said Winter, admitting that the police found several prescription bottles in Houston’s 4th-floor Beverly Hilton suite. Beverly Hills’ detectives would not characterize the prescriptions as anything unusual or excessive, only that they found prescription vials.

Los Angeles County Coroner has indicated that they found no evidence of foul play or trauma, or, for that matter, a planned or inadvertent suicide attempt. Post-mortem autopsies can shed light on suicide attempts, based on the blood-drug-alcohol contents. If victims are found with excessively high levels of drugs and alcohol, it lends more weight to a suicide hypothesis. Less extreme concentrations of drugs or alcohol could indicate an accidental overdose. Inquiring about Houston’s doctors under the State’s doctor-pharmacy-monitoring database CURES’ program suggests that DA could go after inappropriate prescription abuse. Given Houston’s long history with drug abuse, it’s a stretch to blame her doctors for drug and alcohol binges. No responsible doctor can deny patients medically necessary prescriptions, whether or not they eventually mix them with alcohol or take overdoses.

Houston’s tragic death tells an old story of what happens to some talented folks that can’t handle celebrity and fame without resorting to alcohol or drug abuse. While there are some cases where doctors cross the line, especially in the Michael Jackson story, most patients prescribed drugs must use them responsibly. If Whitney went on a drinking binge while taking benzodiazapines, then it’s not her doctor’s fault. Houston’s death highlights the problems with commonly prescribed medications when patients have problems with episodic binge drinking. Even if her doctors knew that Whitney had problems with alcohol abuse, it’s still not negligent to prescribe anti-anxiety medications. Patients with intolerable anxiety often self-prescribe with alcohol to help control anxiety. When celebrities, like Houston, go down, their fans get mad. Lashing out at doctors won’t get them back.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.