Member of famous family continues mundane fate

[jbuck919]

I don't want to make sweeping statements about the Kennedys or wealthy people in general, and I've been teaching math long enough to know that apparent repeated ligthning strikes in the same place can be explained in other terms than curses, but sometimes things do seem to be a bit too much. In Hollywood, they have AA and NA meetings espcially for celbrities (apparently Robert Downy Jr. refuses to go to them and attends his own local meeting). Think Kennedy will be able to find anything like that in Washington or for that matter back in Massachusetts or Rhode Island or whatever? Think he'll attend along with all the hoi polloi?


Reuters
Rep. Kennedy released from drug rehab clinic

By Richard C. Lewis 1 hour, 8 minutes ago

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (Reuters) - U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), son of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), has been released from a drug rehab program a month after crashing his car and seeking help for dependency on prescription drugs.

Kennedy, who has acknowledged suffering from depression and abusing alcohol and prescription drugs for years, was to make his first public appearance on Monday after being discharged on Friday from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Kennedy, 38, crashed his car into a Capitol Hill security barrier on May 4. The nephew of President John F. Kennedy said he was disoriented after taking sleeping pills and other medication. He was charged with three driving violations.

The clinic said Kennedy had completed his treatment but might need to return for follow-up visits later.

"Congressman Kennedy's doctors are encouraged by his progress and have worked with him to put in place a stringent system of after-care that may include periodic visits to Mayo Clinic for continued health care consultations," it said.

Kennedy was also a patient last winter at the clinic, receiving care for his addiction.

He was scheduled to speak at a conference on mental health at Brown University in his home state of Rhode Island later on Monday after spending the weekend with family and friends in Washington, said his spokeswoman Robin Costello.

In a statement after the crash, Kennedy said he had been "fighting this chronic disease since I was a young man." He said he wanted to continue his political career.

According to a police report of the incident, Kennedy's 1997 Ford Mustang was traveling "at a high rate of speed" on a street close to the Capitol. It swerved into the wrong lane, hitting a barrier. Kennedy said he did not recall the crash.


Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

[Ralph]

No one, famous or not, wants to become addicted to drugs. I feel sorry for Rep. Kennedy and hope that his rehabilitation proves successful. Time will tell.

[Corlyss_D]

I don't want to make sweeping statements about the Kennedys or wealthy people in general.

Oh, go ahead. You're among friends. Of course his constitutency loves him all the more for his humanness. Maybe his famous uncle will send wherever it was that Orren Hatch sent Ted for help. What I found amusing was his explanation that he was on his way to a vote. He couldn't remember anything about how he came to be in the car stopped by the police or what happened after he turned in for the night, but apparently he wasn't so drunk he didn't remember what Uncle Ted told him to say whenever he was stopped by the police.