Alexa Ray Joel called 911 herself after taking pills that can't hurt you [UPDATE]

Hey, if it's "natural," it's safe, right? Whatevs. 

Turns out Alexa Ray Joel took a handful of the homeopathic anti-inflammatory Traumeel on Saturday, then freaked out and called 911 on her own, the New York Post reports. 

According to the Post: "EMS workers soon received a message from the 911 dispatcher saying: 'Female caller. Took eight pills. Wants to die. Now feels funny. Wants to live,' sources said." One source categorized the episode as "a cry for help."

Traumeel contains a dozen herbs and minerals, including echinacea and St. John's wort. Alexa Ray, who had recently broken up with musician Jimmy Riot,  canceled performances she had scheduled for this week in New York. 

[Update, 1:23 a.m., Dec. 8, 2009: Heel USA, which makes Traumeel, has posted a statement on its website regarding this incident and the "safety profile" of its product. Also, a link to the product's specific ingredients has been added in the paragraph above.]

The family has made some interesting choices in the past regarding ingestion of substances.

But these kids today! When struggling after a difficult breakup, the Ministry recommends rocking it old school -- with maybe a tiny little anti-anxiety [Update: The word "potion" was missing here] or a bottle of Chardonnay. Nothing stronger.

But nothing weaker, either.

[Update: 7:54 a.m., Dec. 8, 2009: Our Booster Shots friends over in the Health section weighed in Monday night with a post about Traumeel, plus there are plenty of links in my responses in comments. The Health section is also where you'll end up if you click the link in the paragraph immediately above -- a link which, ironically, I included to balance out the snark, because it's a discussion of various alternative therapies and their pros, cons, risks and effectivness. The word that had been missing after "anti-anxiety" two paragraphs above was "potion." And I just realized that there was a letter missing in Alexa's name in the caption below, so I fixed that too. That's it with my updates on this post, folks. I also added in a bunch of related links for those who might assume that all we do here at the Ministry is pick on Alexa Ray Joel. Let it not be said that the Ministry doesn't respond to its readers. Thanks!/cdz]

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Alexa Ray and Billy Joel attend the 58th Annual Tony Awards in June. Credit: Diane Bondareff / Associated Press.

Other Ministry of Gossip dispatches for you to tear into:

Racy Miley Cyrus royally outdoes Lady Gaga in front of the queen (Hide your eyes, your majesty!) [POLL]

Transgressions R Us, not for those respecting Tiger Woods privacy, Part 1; Part 2; Part 3

And our regular series of Preach It! opinion pieces is not for the faint of heart.

Still disgusted? The Ministry of Gossip recommends you visit the Unleashed blog, which includes these really adorable animals that have nothing to do with celebrities of any sort.

Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Facebook and Twitter (we're @LATcelebs).

Comments

[h-]

bottle of reds, bottle of white....whatever kind of mood you're in tonight. meet you anytime you want...

[chris]

Homeopathic medicine is a joke. This girl is an even bigger joke

[Schmoopsy]

Nothing weaker than alcohol? The girl is obviously suffering. I cannot believe that people are so bothered that she didn't actually take something that could have hurt her. It's so sick that everyone WANTS the situation to be so much worse. What the hell is wrong with everyone?

[obbylobbie]

I think it's a real pity that you guys have decided to post in a condescending tone. You've totally trashed this poor kid, who is keenly aware of her parents' poor choices in the past.
In her moment of complete and utter dispair she made a choice that probably seemed familiar to her, which is sad enough... but to have you pass judgement on poor choice, in a public forum is just truly pitiful on your part. Since when did tabs start making moral decisions on their subject of their cattycalls?
Why don't you leave that to us. You just stick to reporting the trash - I'll decide if I don't like the way she did it.

[doc]

title is wrong. any kind of pill can hurt you if you take too many. she did the right thing by calling 911.

[CDZ from the Ministry]

Hey, it's Christie D'Zurilla from the Ministry. Obviously my dark humor hit a nerve.

When I heard Saturday that "Billy Joel's daughter OD'd," until I got more information I assumed that narcotics were involved and that she was dead. Because in the music world, that's usually what "she OD'd" is code for.

See this Sunday morning post, "Billy Joel says daughter Alexa Ray is 'going to be fine,'" the Ministry's initial report about her hospitalization. It was done after available details had been tracked down late Saturday.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2009/12/billy-joel-daughter-alexa-ray-hospitalized.html

To learn today that what had seemed near-fatal at first was actually the ingestion of eight over-the-counter herbal/mineral supplement pills, well, that allowed me to breathe a wee mental sigh of relief and to see some dark humor in the situation.

Perhaps I'm crass -- heck, I *know* I'm crass -- but I do find humor in the notion of trying to harm oneself by taking a bunch (but not all) of your St. Johns Wort/echinacea pills. I mean, I assume a person would have those in the first place because that person presumes such pills are *less* toxic than a traditional anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen.

Me, I head straight for the Alleve to reduce my inflammation.

Plus this scenario is much sweeter and sympathy-inducing than, say, shooting heroin, or mixing handfuls of prescription narcotics, and leaving it to your loved ones to find you there dead.

As for the headline -- true, almost any substance can hurt you if you take too much. Even candy and sunshine. But if you click around in this blog a bit, you'll see we don't take ourselves too seriously -- it's an intentional exaggeration, not a headline meant to be taken literally.

Just wanted to get that off my chest. Thanks for reading and commenting!

/cdz

[barbee pizzle]

This is just stupid. "Pills that can't hurt you...? What kind are they and who says?
Is this reporting or reciting?

[Imran Anwar]

I'm usually the first one to poke fun of people "suffering" from celebrity and wealth (hey, pass it on to us, we'll take it), but when someone feels they want to die, I try to be a bit more understanding, even if they take a dozen Advils for "suicide".

Just my 2 cents.

Imran
IMRAN.TV (got the domain, waiting for the wealth and celebrity LOL)

[obbylobbie]

Hey Chris, what are you, like 12?
Just because a pill is "homeopathic" or herbal doesn't mean it's good to take tons of. Aspirin will kill you - large doses of that or your Aleve will make you bleed to death. Duh.
The issue is, in the event that you missed the point, that some kid (anybody's kid) felt enough angst and pain that she actually thought killing herself was a viable option. I'm certain being the high profile daughter of famous people only make this whole thing even more uncomfortable and awkward.
I've walked in those shoes, felt that pain and managed, in my little life, to survive to face another day without the scrutiny of glib, "crass" writers like you, who finds everyone's frailties as fodder for a quick line in a blog.
'Hope you don't ever feel like that.
It'd be a real pity.

[CDZ from the Ministry]

@Barbee: The pills, as noted in the post, were Traumeel. I've added an update to include the maker's statement on the incident, as well as a link to the ingredients for those who are curious.

Traumeel is a homeopathic remedy, and homeopathic remedies contain minuscule amounts of their active ingredients. That's sort of the main premise of homeopathy, which is not the same thing as a "home remedy."

http://www.webmd.com/balance/tc/homeopathy-topic-overview

Traumeel contains, among other things, belladonna and arnica. As noted in the article links that follow, arnica and belldonna both can be dangerous in large doses. Belladonna is used to treat migraine headaches; arnica is for aches and pains and sprains.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/arnica-000222.htm

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-531-BELLADONNA.aspx?activeIngredientId=531&activeIngredientName=BELLADONNA&source=3

Traumeel has very small amounts of those ingredients; 4X and 3X indicate not multiples of but dilutions -- "four times diluted" and "three times diluted."

http://saveyourself.ca/articles/reality-checks/traumeel.php

I'm no doctor (I do have a chemistry degree), so please don't stand by these citations as any kind of medical advice.

Now that I've recited all that, I'm hitting the sack. G'night, all.

/cdz

[n]

the media should be sued for libel.

[PG]

It is not what she took, it is the fact that she is in such despair that she would act this way. She needs help, not ridicule. I hope that she seeks out some counseling to help her with her personal issues.
She is still a young girl, and needs to be surrounded by people who care about her.
Hopefully she will learn to make good choices in her life, and end up in a happy healthy relationship.

[DS]

The only way you're going to hurt yourself with Homeopathic pills is if you choke on them. She is a dummy looking for attention.

[123her]

Seems like she just wanted some attention to me. Maybe she thinks her boyfriend will come running back to her!

[grigori]

"Alexa Ray Joel called 911 herself after taking pills that can't hurt you"

Homeopathic? The irony here is that they can't help you either.

[NB]

After a few attempts which I thought were only ploys to get attention, my brother-in-law actually committed suicide this summer.

Suicide and suicide attempts are not a joke, not funny nor are they an opportunity to be snarky -- no mater if you think it's a cry for help, an attention-grabbing ploy, or the behavior of a poor rich girl who hasn't matched her parents' success. Someone who is of sound mind and body wouldn't try to do this.

[Matthew]

Fractal wrongness.

"You are not just wrong. You are wrong at every conceivable scale of resolution. Zooming in on any part of your worldview finds beliefs exactly as wrong as your entire worldview."

[Rose Zanne]

She looks like a brat used to getting her own way. Taking pills was a way to get him back but now he probably will join the foreign legion.

[Aramis]

The ultimate claim for homeopathy is that it can't hurt you!!!!

Not much of a surprise since there is nothing in those pills.

Look for Richard Dawkin's TV show The Enemies of Reason. There is an episode called "The Irrational Health Service".

[qrhr]

Did I miss something? She was where . . . Tiger Wood's home? Forget the pills and let's get to the real story. Is everyone trying to cash in on Tiger?

[M Winslow]

Does this article make sense? Does anybody proof-read their writing anymore? This is pitiful writing. And because it is on the web and looks good, we are supposed to accept it?

[Polomoche]

What an appropriately glib and sassy remark! Schadenfreude in full swing! Perez Hilton would be proud of you.

And were today's youth only so lucky to possess your wisdom when it comes to your endorsement of mixing prescription anti-anxiety drugs with booze - that is what you meant, isn't it? Old-school style!

Kudos to you for yet another contribution to our sick culture, ready to take aim at the slightest hint of suffering around us (especially if it involves suicide!) and laugh, laugh, laugh until our stomachs ache...

I suspect - somewhere within that hip, third-person pseudo-moniker "Ministry" bit - you possess some nominal degree of compassion and empathy; why not summon up some courage and put it to work? Apply your insights to the right things instead of reinforcing the wrong.

[Sara]

Polomoche: Beautifully said. I don't know how I even stumbled across this hack writing. It's a poor excuse for journalism.

[j]

what's next? OD on Fred Flinstone chewable vitamins...pathetic.

[obbylobbie]

@Polomoche - I'd read your stuff.
Ministry babe needs to go away.