Suicide Prozac 15/10/1997 California +Famous Author's Son Commits Suicide
 
 Summary:<br><br><div>Paragraph 8 reads:&nbsp; &quot;The<strong> results of those tests came back yesterday and showed that <u>while ranges were normal for the drug Prozac</u>, Traina had not apparently been taking the prescribed level of the antidepressant Lithium.&quot;<br /></strong></div><p><strong>Prozac is an SSRI antidepressant.&nbsp; Lithium is a mood stabilizer.</strong></p><p>__________________________________________________________________________<br />Danielle Steel&#39;s Son Overdosed, Tests Say<br />THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE<br />October 15, 1997<br />Author: Charlie Goodyear, Chronicle Staff Writer <br />Estimated printed pages: 2 <br /><img src="../images.newsbank.com/infoweb/agg/shim.gif" alt="[]" width="1" height="1" /> <br /><br />Blood tests released yesterday by the Contra Costa coroner&#39;s office show that Nicholas Traina, son of novelist Danielle Steel, may not have been taking enough of his antidepressant medicine when he died of a heroin overdose. <br /><br />The results seem to support what Steel said about her son -- that he was manic depressive and suffered from mental illness.<br /><br />According to toxicology reports, Traina, 19, had 0.20 milligrams of morphine, a byproduct of heroin, in his blood when a friend discovered his body at Traina&#39;s Pleasant Hill apartment on September 20.<br /><br />Contra Costa Deputy Coroner James Flanagan noted yesterday that that amount of morphine is in the ``toxic to fatal range.&#39;&#39;<br /><br />In an interview with The Chronicle after her son&#39;s death, Steel says he struggled with drug addiction and had suffered neurological damage at birth.<br /><br />``The only time he messed around with drugs was when his medications failed and he was desperate,&#39;&#39; Steel said. ``This was not some wild kid, this was a very sick kid. The awful thing is I knew for years.&#39;&#39;<br /><br />A blood sample taken from Traina tested negative for cocaine, methamphetamine or alcohol. But a county pathologist ordered additional tests for several antidepressants.<br /><br />The results of those tests came back yesterday and showed that while ranges were normal for the drug <strong>Prozac</strong>, Traina had not apparently been taking the prescribed level of the antidepressant Lithium.<br /><br />Tests showed only 0.09 milligrams of Lithium in his blood. The level should have been in the 0.30 to 1.2 milligram range per a doctor&#39;s prescription, according to the coroner&#39;s report.<br /><br />Before his death, Traina had formed a punk rock band and was playing at Bay Area clubs. His band mates have said Traina looked down on heroin addicts and was pulling his life together.<br /><br />But Julie Campbell, a chemical dependency counselor who tried to help Traina, said she believed he committed <strong>suicide</strong>. Traina had been in and out of hospitals and had made several overdose attempts, she told The Chronicle last month. <br />Edition:&nbsp; FINAL<br />Section:&nbsp; NEWS<br />Page:&nbsp; A15<br />Index Terms: Nicholas Traina<strong>; </strong>Danielle Steel; BAY AREA<strong>; </strong>DRUG ABUSE<strong>; </strong>BIOGRAPHY<strong>; </strong>OBITUARY <br />Record Number:&nbsp; 10000 <br /><br />OpenURL Article Bookmark (right click, and copy the link location):<br /><a href="http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&amp;rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:SFCB&amp;rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&amp;rft_dat=0EB4F7D839137CCB&amp;svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&amp;req_dat=0FC00B934DD580D0">Danielle Steel&#39;s Son Overdosed, Tests Say</a><br /></p> 
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