Before her tragic death at age 32 on December 20 2009, film actress Brittany Murphy was heading for an accidental drug overdose according to Eddie Bubar, owner of Eddie’s Pharmacy. For this reason, around August 2009, the pharmacy stopped selling drugs to Murphy- about four months before her drug-induced death. The pharmacy also stopped filling prescriptions for Murphy’s husband, Simon Monjack, and for her mother, Sharon Murphy. “We thought there was going to be an accident there,” said Bubar. Yet, Monjack contradicted him. “We’re the ones who cut Eddie’s Pharmacy off,” Monjack stated. But he did not say where he and his wife bought her drugs after the split with Eddie’s.
A former patient of Dr. Kroop’s told me she called to get her medical records- four months after Brittany Murphy’s death in 2009- and learned that Dr. Kroop had left his practice eight months earlier-precisely at the time that Eddie’s Pharmacy claims to have dropped Ms. Murphy. Was Dr. Kroop still giving the prescriptions for Murphy during the last four months of her life? Was he under investigation even then? The former patient was told by an office manager that medical records are only saved for five years. She said it had just been five years-from 2003 to 2004. The office manager told her that she would have to look into it and told her to call back.
This ex-patient told me that Dr. Kroop was known around Burbank and Glendale as an easy touch for prescription drugs and for typically writing large scrips for a hundred tablets or more. She said, “Employees of the Pavillion’s RX down the street from his office have a long running joke that if someone comes in with a script from Dr. Kroop it is going to be a scheduled drug.”
TMZ reported that for nearly two years- from January 2008 up until August 2009- the family trio purchased prescription drugs monthly from Eddie’s, usually 200 pills that in some months doubled to 400. Murphy used several aliases including Lola Manilow Murphy, Kathelyn Moore, Trevor Williams, and Faith Gosselin. How did Murphy choose her aliases? Check it out at the end of this article.
According to Eddie’s Pharmacy records, Murphy had regular prescriptions for clonazepam and Klonopin (anti-anxiety), hydrocodone (Vicodin), and Vicoprofen (a combo of Vicodin and Ibuprofen). Murphy’s pills were prescribed by Dr. Richard Kroop. On the afternoon of Friday March 19, investigators visited Dr. Kroop, whose specialties are Family Practice and Internal Medicine. His offices are in Burbank, California. He is affiliated with Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center and Glendale Adventist Medical Center.
Dr. Richard J. Kroop, 59, graduated in 1975 from New York Medical College; he trained in Internal Medicine at Stamford Hospital. On March 31 2004, he was cited for the minor violation of ‘Failure to Maintain Adequate and Accurate Medical Records’ for which he was fined $500. The matter was resolved.
The charitable Dr. Kroop and his artist wife, Dolores P.G. Kroop, favor the Republican Party. His languages are English, Armenian, Spanish, and Tagalog (an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines). Other than the one minor citation for poor record keeping, Dr. Kroop seems to have a clean record. However, his reputation says otherwise, as described by an ex-patient.
The Los Angeles Coroner‘s report states that Brittany Murphy’s death was an ‘Accident’. The Coroner believes that Murphy may have had pneumonia and was perhaps treating herself for the condition with a combination of medications typically used for cold symptoms or other respiratory infection. High levels of the following drugs were found Murphy’s bloodstream-acetaminophen; hydrocodone; chlorpheniramine (active ingredient in some over-the-counter medications); L-methamphetamine (a constituent of some inhalers). Also, found in her bloodstream were three benzodiazepines, which did not correlate with any of the prescription bottles found in Murphy’s name.
On the morning of her death, Murphy told Monjack and her mother that she was feeling very ill. She had been experiencing flu symptoms for days. On this particular morning, very early, she went to the bathroom, alone; she began vomiting. Murphy suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed in the shower. The last photos of her were taken on December 3 at the Tt Collection Pop-Up party. Murphy left her entire estate to her mother, Sharon Murphy. She specifically excluded her husband, Simon Monjack, although he continues to live there.
According to radaronline, the image of Brittany Murphy accompanying this article is the last known photo of her. It was taken on December 3 at the Tt Collection Pop-Up party in Los Angeles-Murphy was co-hosting the event with Tiffany Saidnia.
How did Murphy choose her aliases? The aliases could be random names out of a hat or Murphy could have chosen the names of real people. Here are some possibilities-
Lola Manilow Murphy: A real Lola Manilow owns KidCorp in Seattle, which may be a defunct business.
Faith Gosselin: John and Kate Gosselin of the TV reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 named one of their sextuplets Alexis Faith Gosselin.
Kathelyn Moore: Murphy probably liked the unusual spelling of the first name. A couple of Kathelyn Moores live in Laguna Beach but they use the nickname of Kathy.
Trevor Williams: Among countless Trevor Williams is the Trevor Williams who is an improv, sketch, and stand-up comedian out of New York City. He has made numerous television appearances. He currently stars in ESPN’s web series ‘NFL Writer’s Room’.
Related articles:
Brittany Murphy Funeral Christmas Eve; ‘Autopsy Photos Stolen’ Risk;
Brittany Murphy Death: Potent Prescription Drugs in Bedroom; Therapist Paul McKenna a Neighbor;
Brittany Murphy Dead at 32, Death Under Investigation; Autopsy Planned;
Sources:tmz1;tmz2;tmz3;tmz4;tmz5;ucompare;radaronline.com; The last photo was taken December 3 at the Tt Collection Pop-Up party in Los Angeles.The last photo was taken December 3 at the Tt Collection Pop-Up party in Los Angeles.
