Hello. My name is Carly, I’m from the US and I am a friend of Joey Marino who was severely polydrugged. He was on 40 different drugs in a ten-year span. He was best known as Anthony Edwards stand in on the hit medical show ER, pursuing to other background work on the show. Continuing the journey to a few other shows. He had anxiety all through his life and when things got tough he moved back home to where his mom was living at the time. He went to the doctor to he told he had, “ situational anxiety.” He was on Klonopin, Xanax, Valium, Prozac, Ativan, Zoloft, Carbazapine, Trihexyphenidyl, Naproxen, Seroquel, Trazadone, to name some but not all of what he was on.

Joey was on Prozac and that had made him instantly suicidal to which he never had that experience in his entire life until he was on that drug. He also developed Akathisia. He was hospitalized and put on seventy-two hour hold on and off throughout the last ten years of his life. He went from being a fitness junkie and loving everything health wise, especially after his dad died, Joey was more health conscious from that point on. Joey felt abandoned by some of his family members and some friends. But he did have a lot of support of other friends as well and that always had meant a lot to Joey.

Joey was bedridden from these drugs. He had also developed Tardive Dyskinesia, Dystonia and had a form of Tourette’s that would come and go at times. Joey also had his dopamine stripped to where if he was to eat, he would get a reaction. No matter what it would make his Akathisia flare. Movements joint all around, feeling dizzy. Having the ideation thoughts of harm. He had neuropathy in his feet feeling it blood is pulling down to his feet. He couldn’t hardly walk and when he did, he would be very slow at times. Joey had made his own decision to stop eating and drinking after a three-month extreme hard times that had happened prior before his passing.

It wasn’t a decision he wanted. He was never offered DBS ( deep brain stimulation). If anything, one of the neurologists said that, “ it would be at the very last resort to have that happen.” He tried tapering a few times, he tried stem cells, Botox, acupuncture and he would hardly ever get any relief. If there was one, it would be sometimes up to an hour or few, even going through the next day. Joey didn’t want this to be his ending and his story. A ten-minute visit changed his life, and this wasn’t the life he had wanted.

I am working on a few projects to tell Joey’s story as I’m learning more about what he was going through more than ever. I’m finished in the first part of telling his story. I have learned that doctors don’t know the true meaning of, “ informed consent”. They rather give you a basic “side effects “. Instead of trying to help their patient with it could also have severe side effects as well. Joey loved his life till he got injured by pharmaceutical. As his friend and someone who got to know him the last two years of his life it was an honour to know him, to tell his story.