Actor Corey Haim has died. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office confirmed the actor died at 2:15 AM on Wednesday at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. The Los Angeles Police Department said they received a call from the hospital before 4 AM confirming the actor's death.
He was transported from the home he shared with his mother, Judy, in Toluca Hills, Calif. to the hospital.
A statement from the LA County Coroner's office was released and it said, "This morning at about 1:30...Corey Haim's mom found him. He got up out of bed and had been feeling ill for the last couple of days. As he got out of bed, he felt a little weak and went down to the floor on his knees. He's had flu-like symptoms. She called paramedics. They responded and transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced [dead] at 2:15 this morning."
The Coroner's office found four prescription drug bottles inside the apartment he shared with his mother, but no illegal drugs,
The Canadian-born actor first rose to fame in 1984's "Firstborn," where he starred with Teri Garr, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Robert Downey Jr. In 1987, the actor the reached the peak of his career in the Joel Schumacher's "Lost Boys," where he hunted vampires with his friend and frequent co-star Corey Feldman. Some of his other box office hits included "Lucas," "License to Drive" and "Dream a Little Dream."
I remember the movie First Born it was pretty good (or at least I thought so 25 years ago).
ReplyDeleteRIP Corey
sounds eerily similar to how brittney murphy passed. what a shame.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I just watched "The Lost Boys" last night and were joking about the Coreys. It was really eerie to wake up this morning and read this. A shame and a waste.
ReplyDeleteIt's really a shame that these celebrities who are dying so young, all have their hands on so many prescription drugs.
ReplyDeleteCall me naive, but why isn't anything being done to prevent this?
we just HAVE to stop making this distinction between 'legal' and 'illegal' drugs. drugs can kill you---whether it's prescribed or bought on the street.
ReplyDeleteit just bothers me to keep reading these items. it's like 'oh, he only had legal drugs....that's better than if it were heroin or crack.'
no, it's not. he's just as dead either way.
This is sad, but I'm not at all shocked.
ReplyDeleteIs "flu-like" considered a side effect (pre-cursor??) of a drug overdose?
ReplyDeleteThey said the same thing about Brittany Murphy and I think Tequila's girlfriend too was said to have them before she died.
I find it weird that they all have "flu-like symptoms"...
I thought the same thing, Jackie, re: Brittany Murphy. It's really a shame what Hollywood/fame does to people. I don't understand how you can live in that world and continue to snort your coke & do your "prescription drugs" when almost every month it's someone new who has passed away from the same thing. Very sad. Corey Haim was one of my childhood crushes (after Jason Bateman, of course)...it's just sad. RIP.
ReplyDeleteR.I.P., Lost Boy. :(
ReplyDeleteWhen the category of "prescription drugs" includes tablets of meth and dex amphetamine, or synthetic narcotics, they are absolutely no different from street drugs. Goodness, at least street drugs don't clutter up your house with ugly brown bottles. I hate pill addiction and have watched several friends deteriorate horribly from pill use. Big Pharma is on no one's side.
ReplyDeleteWow. You pull your nose out of a heavy book for some lighthearted CDaN and this is what you find. Yikes!
ReplyDeletePoor Corey Haim.
"flu-like symptoms" is common when an addict is withdrawing from opiates especially. The fastest and easiest (and "legal") way to correct the withdrawals are prescription opiods.
ReplyDeleteSomething to think about.
I believe now it will be pretty rare to hear that a celebrity died of an illegal drug overdose.
ReplyDeleteSuddenly they'll all die of colds, the flu, insomnia etc. from prescription drugs.
Perfectly legal and no one is an illegal drug abuser. Same with rehab. They are all in there for anxiety or stress.
Just Sad.
ReplyDeleteAnd, like most people have said, not shocking.
I still had a place in my heart for him. I remember writing a fan letter to him after I saw "Murphy's Romance".. Such a great flick...
I am very interested to see how Feldman is going to handle this..
RIP Corey..
RIP Haim.
ReplyDeletepoor Feldman.
Also, for the better part of last year both of my roommates were on prescribed Adderall. I watched them spiral out of control. One almost lost his job because of his irrational thoughts, the other was just irrational.. They finally realized that it would probably be better to quit...And it is!!
ReplyDeleteMy point here I guess, is that almost anyone can walk into the Doctors Office and ask for something as harsh as Adderall, and get it! Right there on the spot...
Perscription drugs are way to easy to obtain. You just have to know the right words to say....
If one is not trying to commit suicide, it seems like it would be pretty difficult, or require quite the array of medications, to kill yourself if staying at the prescribed dosage.
ReplyDeleteIf not taking the prescribed dosage, then how much more did he/they take?
Flu-like symptoms seem pretty vague. Fever? Aches and pains? Or stomach flu with vomiting? Anyway, just wondering.
I keep expecting to see this announcement for Lindsay L as well.
I was shocked when I heard this on the radio station this morning.
ReplyDeleteLost Boys was my favorite movie.
Ugh, this is so sad. I was rooting for him, I was really hoping he'd be able to make it back and actually have a career again.
ReplyDeleteLindsay Lohan? She's like Courtney Love; a celebrity cockroach. Will survive anything and no one understands how.
Lost Boys will forever be one of my favorite movies. RIP Corey Haim.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how is boy Feldman is taking it? Cannot be good.
very sad. now let's see how feldman will milk this.
ReplyDelete@figgy - if you are a drug user, you almost never stick to the prescribed dosage. Just like he said in an interview.. One leads to two leads to three... It's very easy to build up your tolerance and not think anything is wrong...
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking Corey was taking a cocktail of prescriptions and taking more then he was supposed to. Which was probably a lot...
lol @ Harriet and LL the Celebrity Cockroach
ReplyDeleteLOL @Master
ReplyDeleteIt's funny cuz it's true!
RIP Corey. :(
ReplyDeleteVery sad. I hope he has the peace he never had on earth.
ReplyDeleteEpidemic! I'm beginning to feel less and less sad for people who don't give a shit about themselves.
ReplyDeleteOh man...one of my childhood idols, I'm a 90's kid but still I watched most of his movies. I thought he was doing better :(
ReplyDeleteI loved him in Murphy's Romance. And of course I had a crush on him in the 80's. Lucas made me cry. I loved lost boys and LTD but I remember my dad taking me to see "Dream a Little Dream" and we were both like wow that was really bad.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this news makes me really sad. His mom must be in so much pain right now.
@ Lisa - While I agree with you that it's hard to have sympathy for people who kill themselves by making extremely poor choices, it's also sad that this epidemic is perpetuated by Hollywood parents....Haim struggled with drugs from a young age (as did/does Lindsay Lohan, although her rabid famewhore parents are enough to drive anyone to self-destruction) and it makes one wonder where the parents were (ca$hing checks at the bank?) when Hollywood was plying their children with drugs/alcohol/sex...this kind of stuff happens FAR too frequently with child stars :(
ReplyDeleteToday a little piece of our childhood died.
ReplyDeleteI always hoped he would be able to turn his life around. And this really does break my heart today.
Thanks to nancer for the quote of the day, which needs repeating:
ReplyDeletewe just HAVE to stop making this distinction between 'legal' and 'illegal' drugs. drugs can kill you---whether it's prescribed or bought on the street.
This is really sad. He was so charming at times. RIP.
ReplyDeleteHe was a cute kid--i still remember when he tried selling his teeth on ebay & I think I read he had sex with a fan for cash.
ReplyDeleteIt is so sad when someone so promising just can't get it together.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRIP corey.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's just harder for people to find happiness and self-acceptance. That's what it's really about, and everybody deserves that. The tragedy is how some just can't seem to find it or hold onto it.
Thank you for the perspective, Master. I forget, sometimes, that these are kids who are never allowed to grow up and are expected to be the breadwinner all at the same time.
ReplyDeletepoor, poor trudy. that has got to be the worst thing for a mother to go through
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for Corey's family and yet at the risk of sounding insensitive I would like to address the questions of some of the bloggers above who ask, "What can we do about this misuse of prescription drugs?" My answer is that we should do nothing. Everyone should have the freedom to direct their own path whether or not we approve of their direction. It is not our right or our duty to inhibit their freedom and usurp their own personality responsibility no matter how reckless or foolish we think they are. Again, I am sorry for the loss of Corey, but it is not our burden to carry, it was only his.
ReplyDeleteSad but no surprise...
ReplyDeleteThe problem with prescription drug overuse will be solved when there's a penalty to the doctors and pharma companies for over-prescribing them. Until then, it's too easy to get them, especially in lala land.
ReplyDeletePoor guy. May he be at peace now.
ReplyDeleteI was a big fan of his back then when I was a teenager. I remember that I got most of my infos about him from American teen mags which I bought at our central station. I also remember that when I wasn't that much of a fan anymore I read in one of those magazines that he was a coke fiend and even filmed an anti-drugs spot while being high on cocaine. I was shocked and couldn't believe it.
ReplyDeleteHe also said in an interview that back then in the 80's his family ambushed him and drove him to rehab against his will.
So, it's not that they didn't do anything. I guess that after a while his parents just didn't know what to do anymore.
R.I.P. Corey!
seems to me that Corey Haim was the subject of one of the blinds a while back - wasn't he the dude who demanded a bunch of DVD's for free at a music store? What a waste of talent down the drain.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we have a very sophisticated system for dealing with prescription drug addiction here in the US. Last year I suffered withdrawal symptoms from taking a fraction of the lowest prescribed dose of Xanax over a period of less than a month. The only info I could find about how to safely withdrawal (which involves tapering its use) came from the UK. My doc gave me no information.. I don't think doctors know how to advise on that kind of stuff unless you're in a drug treatment facility. Also, for folks wanting treatment for addiction, it can be difficult and expensive to obtain.
ReplyDeleteOff the soap box now. Thanks for indulging me.
I can't wait to see if there are blind items yet to be revealed having to do with this particular Corey.
How does this happen? Easy. The doctors hand folks a pill to mask the patients problem, get them out of the office quickly & not be such a 'burden' to the medical system (instead of paying for therapy). Eventually the patient builds up a tolerance, and/or is then dealing with a whole host of other problems as a result of the initial script & finds themselves taking 4 different meds within 2-3 years.
ReplyDeleteAnd it isn't just hollyweird. I have a 73 y/o friend who is on a rollercoaster of vallium, adivan & sleep meds. She's a mess. Very sad indeed, and it all started because the dr's put her on anti-depressants 5 years ago. It's hopeless for many.
m surprised he made it to 38. Drugs ruin so many lives.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to be rude but I'm not really looking forward to seeing pictures of the other Corey that will be drifting out now.
RIP Corey. I loved you in Lucas and The Lost Boys.
I'm with JJ - Nancer's quote should be the quote of the day. So true.
ReplyDeleteRIP to my second childhood crush. My first was River Phoenix. Both such tragic losses. You were fab in Lost Boys, Corey, and Canada mourns you. I'm sorry things were so hard for you.
ReplyDeleteI think this is one of the first times I've felt "close" to one of these celebrities who have died. I have tasted mortality today, and it is bitter.
looserdude, if someone was in the jaws of a shark, would you say the same thing? He "made the choice" to go swimming, didn't he?
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I dragged our son out of heroin addiction. Sorry, I think that people in the jaws of an eating machine deserve someone caring enough to pry open the teeth.
This is very sad even though I'm old enough to still think Corey is contemporary. I remember Lost Boys when he was a just a young boy. It's so frickin' sad.
Bye Corey Haim :'( ( real tears I can't believe it! )
ReplyDeleteYou literally covered my walls for many moons over 20 years ago. I hope you find peace in the after RIP
I have stated on these boards before and I will again. I was a huge pill head. Regular American story..two car accidents, insurance won't cover most of the physical therapy so pills got me through and then I decided to not quit when the pain stopped. I was addicted for 6 years. I won't go into all the fucked up shit I did to get pills nor how fucking hard it was to get off.
ReplyDeleteBut I did get off. Its hard but its possible. You have to have a reason to stop. Period. I feel for those who lost their reasons.
Lets not blame doctors though. Many actually are being very cautious these days about handing them out and many either don't at all or use it as a last case scenario. Believe me, in my prime I did lots of Dr shopping and was told NO many times...
I hope this practice continues and those of us that are tired of shopping will get discouraged and decide to quit.
RIP (again) Corey.
@ Little Red Leo
ReplyDeleteI think before one dies their body begins to shut down and rids itself of anything in the stomach and bowels. Hence, flu-like symptoms. His body was shutting down.
Waking up to this news totally ruined my day. I was a huge Corey fan - not the Dream a Little Dream/License to Drive era, but the Murphy's Romance/Lucas/Silver Bullet/Lost Boys era. I even paid $20 to get my picture taken with him about 6 years ago at a comic book convention. I'm still not sure what he was doing there, other than making some quick cash for a fix.
ReplyDeleteAs far as how to solve the presciption med problem, I wish someone could. My 30 year old brother has been addicted to "legal" drugs for 12 years, after hurting his back on a church mission trip (of all places) and being prescribed pain killers. From there, it branched out into other pills, all legally prescribed by one doctor (or stolen from my parents when he got desperate). And he actually should have a reason to get sober: his wife and 3 year old twins. He's currently in rehab for the first time, but I'm not sure it will help. These OD stories always hit really close to home for me, but the loss of Corey hurts a lot more than the others.
I agree that this is a tragic story - and an all too familiar one -- but prosecuting doctors for their patients' addictions is absolutely not the way to go.
ReplyDeleteShould we outlaw alcohol (again)? How do you feel about food nazis' efforts to keep us from eating food that's bad for us?
There are many things that people become addicted to - we can't outlaw all of them. A lot of people who live in chronic pain manage not to become addicted to their meds. Are they going to pay the price of other peoples' demons?
There are already doctors - good, honest doctors - serving time in jail because they prescribed drugs to patients who then abused them (and we all know that no one can lie and manipulate better than an addict). It's absolutely disgusting what the criminal system has done to these doctors. Some doctors are now afraid to prescribe pain medication to people who desperately need it.
Meanwhile the geniuses at the FDA want to ban Darvon and Darvocet based on a very small sample of people who committed suicide. And pharmacists have to keep ephredrin behind the counter because people use it to make meth. This hasn't halted the use of meth at all, BTW - it's just caused the meth addicts to buy the stronger stuff from Mexico.
I'm sorry - I know I'm ranting. But this is a subject that really, really bugs me. I don't like prohibition. I don't like the state or other people deciding what's in my best interests. I don't like the way our culture is constantly trying to remove all possibility of risk from our lives, to the point of infantilizing adults and holding no one accountable for their actions. More laws and more regulation is not the answer to every problem, esp. not problems as old as humanity -- i.e., addiction, alienation, loneliness, low self esteem and a perceived lack of meaning in one's life.
And if we absolutely have to ban something, why not start with reality television? It makes predators of us all.
I'll shut up now.
... well whatdayaknow... an'OTHER' "celeb" DIES from Rx's.. ironically *el Gordo Coroner Eduardo Winters* 'WAS' quick this time to 'SAY' it was an *overdose*... as opposed to Brittany Anne Murphy (Rest In Peace Babe) Who's *SKUMmy BLACK WIDOWer "husband"*, Her "Mommy Dearest" Sharon and Her r"Em"aining *PR "people"* REFUSED *Gordo* to 'SAY' She Died from "Em" OVERDOSE... which only goes to show Who 'WAS' the "more Famous" Celebrity... and Whose "Em"mage needed to be "cleaned up" even after She Had So NEEDLESSLY and SENSELESSLY Passed...
ReplyDeletewell said, kinsey.
ReplyDeleteand rexruther took the words right out of my mouth.
we all know he was broke. hells bells, he was living with his mom in her apartment!
no way he could afford some high falutin' rehab at this point in his life.
the coroner's report reads as though he might have been trying to clean up again. i'd like to think so, but 4 'scrip bottles is NOT very many, especially if he was cleaning up. anti-seizure, anti-anxiety, methadone, who knows?
and as kinsey says, legit docs do NOT hand out drugs like m & ms. chronic pain patients suffer a LOT because the drug laws are so tough. every time an MD writes out a 'scrip for a narcotic (heaven forfend a triplicate) they are in danger of losing their license. HMOs pay doctors to NOT hand out drugs.
most are on the up and up. and most patients handle their meds honestly. like me.
our new contracted RX company (through our insurance) now fills narcotics, so i have 3 months (each in a separate bottle) worth of darvocet, soma, and bottles of both ambien and ambienCR (whatever it is, a mistake was made)--- plus because it's winter i have percocet, oh, yeah, and the 6 left-over oxys from vacation, those are in the bottom of the med box-- doesn't that sound like a major dope fiend if i died from the flu tomorrow?
do you have any idea how many years it's taken to earn that trust from my doctor? do you know how many specialists i see BUT REFUSE 'SCRIPS FROM?
i put all my eggs in one basket, i only get meds from my primary and i only use one storefront pharmacy.
i know there's another commenter on here that suffers from chronic pain, much worse than mine. others with sleep disorders, anxiety, seizures, depression... when the state starts making decisions over doctors over whether or not things can be available because somebody MIGHT decide to hurt themselves with it, where will it end???
sorry. VERY touchy subject with me. i'll wait for the full coroner's report before judge. i wouldn't be surprised if drugs killed him, but i just get sick of this blame the drugs, blame the doctors, blame everybody but the user.
RIP, corey, i enjoyed your work. i hope your burdens have been lifted.
My neurologist gave me a prescription for Fioricet for migraines and cluster headaches. As soon as I took 3 in one month, he cut me off and told me to take Aleve instead. My other option was pain management, so I take nothing and manage the pain by keeping the room dark and trying not to slam my head in the door.
ReplyDeleteLisa:
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I'm talking about. That's ridiculous - find another doctor, one who's not so completely unreasonable.
Also - ask a doctor about Maxalt. It's not a narcotic and I've found it very effective with my migraines. I don't know how bad yours are - I don't have the absolute killer kind, but I get lowgrade migraines that last for days. Now if one drags on for more than 8 hours, and ibuprofen doesn't hack it, a Maxalt kills it flat.
OTOH, my BIL has horrific killer migraines and Maxalt doesn't do squat for him.
The -cet drugs aren't all that powerful anyway. If I were ever going to indulge in recreational pharmaceuticals, I'd get me som Demerol. I got a lot of Demerol in the hospital with Dive - I had a catastrophic delivery. Demerol is heaven, yo.
amen to the demerol!
ReplyDeleteERs now have signs up saying they will NOT give demerol!
i usually get IV morphine when i'm in the hospital, and it doesn't always cut it.
i used to have fiorcet, back before the better migraine meds came out, but the thing was, you have to take it the second the migraine starts, and it doesn't to shit for cluster headaches.
see another doctor, lisa, please don't suffer with those (mine finally stopped either when i started taking buspar or at the beginning of peri-menopause-they occurred @ the same time)!!!
Please don't give up hope with respect to your brother, Nicole. At least he's IN rehab! My daughter had a $400/day cocaine habit when she was just 18 that consumed her entire college fund. She went to rehab, and we just celebrated her 10 year anniversary of being clean and sober. It's not easy for an addict getting out of rehab; it's somewhat ironic that one of life's greatest accomplishments is something you can't put it on your resume. And while we all think the addict will immediately be "all better" the minute he or she steps out of rehab, I think it's much more helpful to remember that, when it comes to re-building a life from scratch, it's a marathon and not a sprint. But for someone dedicated to the effort, who is determined to go through the difficult times to get to the good ones, and who has a good strong support system, it can be done. To those of you who have accomplished this Herculean task, BRAVO!!!
ReplyDeleteTax Lawyer; You're a gem. That is one of the kindest things I've seen on these boards.
ReplyDeletebless you for passing on that bit of inspiration.
So sad to hear this. RIP Corey.
ReplyDeletethey said he died of pneumonia..Which honestly I do not believe that to be true. I honestly think he was poisoned possibly to keep his mouth shut.. Just seems like another sacrifice of some kind, like all the other stars that mysteriously turn up dead from a aka drug overdose, or pneumonia.. Very strange.. I think the answers ring much closer to home, than anyone wants to really admit!.
ReplyDelete