Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Anna Nicole was over-medicated

A prosecution expert at the trial of Anna Nicole Smith's former partner has testified that Smith should have been weaned off prescription drugs.

As Howard K. Stern's drug conspiracy trial continued on Monday, prosecution witness Dr James Gagne stated that the amount of opiates and sedatives that the model was taking prior to her death left her behaving like "a space cadet".

Two of Smith's physicians, Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor, are also facing charges in the case and were criticised by the addiction specialist.

The AP reports that Gagne asserted that Smith's own history with drugs should have tipped off Stern and the star's doctors that she could not handle such heavy medication.

"Three sedatives were prescribed at the same time, and one would expect she would abuse them based on her medical history," he explained.

Gagne added that a person taking such a heavy dose of prescription medicine would feel "out of it. Emotionally, they're up and down, not functioning cognitively."

Monday's expert testimony marked the end of the second month of proceedings against Eroshevich, Kapoor and Stern.