Former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo didn't just have a house stuffed with Oreck vacuum cleaners. He also had a medicine chest overflowing with drugs.
Ambien. Xanax. Prozac. Darvocet. Imitrex. Nexium. Immodal. Lipitor. Tricor. Plavix. Requip. Metformin.
These drugs and more, plus at least two glasses of wine nightly, have all been ingested routinely by the 66-year-old Fumo as he copes with an impending prison term, according to court documents in his case made public today.
Fumo's lawyers bared what they characterized as his "addictions to prescription drugs and alcohol" as part of their failed to effort delay his imprisonment.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter rejected Fumo's bid, reiterating that the disgraced former Democratic power would have to report to prison on Monday, Aug. 31, as originally scheduled.
Buckwalter also rejected Fumo's request that his disclosures about his alcohol and drug abuse be kept secret. He ordered the key filings over the matter, from both defense lawyers and prosecutors, be made public. This morning, they were.
Like Fumo's long trial, the new filing further exposed Fumo's troubled pysche and unusual lifestyle.
In one filing, a psychologist who has been helping Fumo with his issues wrote that Fumo is a "poly-substance abuser." The court filings say Fumo has been abusing the sleep agent Ambien, the antianxiety drug Xanax and the painkiller Darvocet, downing all of these even as he drank alcohol.
According to psychologist Marsha Schwartz Klein, Fumo has told her that he was "self-medicating in order to cope with extreme mental and emotional stress he was feeling as a result of his criminal prosecution."
Contact Inquirer staff writer Craig McCoy at 215-854-4821 or cmccoy@phillynews.com.
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