I think one of the best ways to really keep kids off drugs is to talk to them in their own language. And it’s best when they hear about it from people they’ll actually listen to; people who speak on their level. So who better to warn kids to stay off drugs than Jackass star Steve-O?

Steve has a rap sheet so long I think his Wikipedia page almost exploded when I opened it. He’s struggled with serious drugs and mental illness for years, and in March was physically removed from his home by his friends, who forced him to check into a mental hospital. He’s been there ever sense, and recently wrote on his blog exactly why you shouldn’t do drugs.

After seeing “Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Addiction Special” on VH1 News, I figured it was time to put something out there for you all. I expected my part on that show to be much harder to watch than it wound up being. It made me want to explain a little bit of what I’ve been going through since I got clean, to help some of you understand how much damage drugs and alcohol have really done to me. I’ve now been clean for 115 days, and I’m, again, in a mental institution. I did so much cocaine, ketamine, pcp, nitrous oxide, and all sorts of other drugs, that, quite simply, my brain is fucked up. As you can probably tell by the way I’m writing this, my cognitive skills are alright, but, I frequently suffer from horrible mood swings and severe depression. Those of you who have followed my warped mind’s trail on the Internet for a significant amount of time have, I’m sure, been very aware of those attributes, but, I just want you all to know that four fucking months (almost) of not touching a damn thing that a psychiatrist didn’t perscribe to me hasn’t changed that shit. The medication that is prescribed to me doesn’t do the trick every day, let’s just put it that way. I’m back in the looney bin trying to get that shit right. The bottom line is that doing drugs fucked my ass up and I’m going to be paying for it for a long time, probably for the rest of my life. Everyone’s going to make their own decisions in life, but nobody needs to make the same mistakes I made. I love you all,

[From Steve O’s Myspace blog]

I think that’s really good to hear. A lot of people experiment a bit with drugs and are fine, and that’s the end of the story. But there are always heartbreaking stories like Steve’s where it just ends up ruining a person’s life. I have a friend who has been in and out of mental institutions since high school in a case that sounds pretty similar to this.

Steve obviously has a ton of issues – both medical and mental – to work through. But it sounds like he’s taking them seriously, and hopefully will do whatever work needs to be done to get better.

Here’s Steve O at Maxim’s 2008 Hot 100 party in Los Angeles on May 21st. I’m assuming he’s either been in and out of the mental hospital and happened to be out that day, or he got some kind of… day pass? Photographer: Dimitri Halkidis; Images thanks to WENN.

Singer Amy Winehouse leads a remarkably open life for someone so famous. Most celebrities keep a passel of security guards and assistants around them at all times. They buy fancy homes in gated communities. They only sign autographs at premieres. Amy is pretty much the opposite of all those things. You rarely see her with any security other than a friend or her dad. From the description in Rolling Stone, she lives in anything but a fancy, gated home. Winehouse’s fans are often photographed going right up to her door, which she answers herself. She’ll chat and sign autographs. I can’t think of any other celebrity that encourages that kind of access.

In a way it’s really cool – and if she had her act more together in terms of her personal affairs, it’d be easy to say Amy was really down to earth and awesome. Unfortunately all of her openness – or maybe it’s just a refusal to hide – has made Winehouse’s every move pretty easy to document. That’s why it came as a surprise to many that she’s been at a hospital clinic for the last ten days, since her release from another hospital after being diagnosed with emphysema-like symptoms.

Though her rep wasn’t clear, it appears Winehouse is being treated for her lung condition and not specifically for her addictions. She was allowed to leave the clinic twice for concert performances this past weekend – and was also photographed buying cigarettes and booze. After ten days she’s being released.

Amy Winehouse has left the hospital, it was confirmed Tuesday. The performer, who had a busy weekend of concerts, was discharged from the clinic where she has been staying for more than 10 days on Monday.

Her representative, Chris Goodman, said, “She has left [the] hospital. She is continuing as an outpatient.” The singer, 24, returned to the facility during rehearsals and between her performances for Nelson Mandela and at the Glastonbury Festival. But she left for good on Monday.

“She will return for regular appointments for check[-up]s,” said Goodman. He adds, “There comes a time when you are ready to leave the hospital, and so she left. No one was trying to keep her there. It was completely up to her – everyone knew she would not stay there forever”… Goodman says Winehouse is “looking great and feeling great.”

[From People]

I really don’t understand how Amy Winehouse is constantly able to convince doctors that she’s fine. She’s always leaving hospitals and rehabs after what seems like relatively short stays – especially considering her myriad of conditions and the ferocity with which her addictions always seem to return. I realize they can’t lock her down… but it’d sure be great if they could.

Amy wasn’t in the hospital secretly, and a few media outlets mentioned it. Maybe it just didn’t get as much press because it doesn’t exactly raise eyebrows anymore.

Despite the “everything is great!” line her PR guy gave, the Daily Mail reported that Amy immediately went out partying.

The troubled star marked her release from hospital by partying until 4.30am amid fears she’ll resume her bad habits. The Rehab singer visited live music venue The Monarch and stopped in at a kebab shop before returning home to carrying on the party with friends.

A source is quoted in The Sun as saying: ‘We feared a taste of the outside would remind her what she’s missing and it would be hard to get her back into life at the clinic. That’s exactly what’s happened. Sunday was like she was on a terrible comedown from the whole thing. She kicked off and threw all her toys out the pram.

‘She told Mitch [her father]: “I’m climbing the walls in here. I need to get out”. She said if he didn’t help her get out, she’d walk out. ‘He realised he had to let her leave, otherwise he’d have no control over where she goes and what she gets up to.’

[From the Daily Mail]

What’ll it take to get her to straighten out? What hasn’t gone wrong for Amy Winehouse? If she hasn’t hit rock bottom yet, I’m truly afraid to see what her version of the bottom looks like.

Here’s Amy Winehouse leaving her Camden home to go for a walk with an inhaler in her hand after she was released from the hospital last night. She produces an ace of hearts playing card which she asks the photographers to get published for her incarcerated husband. Totally normal. Images thanks to WENN.

The Daily News is reporting that Amy Winehouse has been in the hospital since fainting Monday because she has tuberculosis. They’re also saying Amy’s massive weight loss has hindered her recovery – and that she won’t let doctors treat her.

As Amy Winehouse remains in the hospital, it’s being reported that the 24-year-old has a case of tuberculosis.

With a chest infection and the songstress coughing up blood, sources inside the London hospital report her doctors are trying to control her irregular heartbeat.

“She’d been suffering horrible coughing fits and hurling up blood for a while but refused to be examined. Doctors now believe it is tuberculosis and are doing more tests to be certain,” the source told London’s The Sun newspaper.

Winehouse’s massive weight loss since she sky-rocketed to fame in 2004 is also a concern of doctors.

[From the Daily News]

However Amy’s rep officially denied the TB report, stating that Amy has some sort of chest infection, and doing his best to make it sounds like it’s relatively mild.

Amy Winehouse has been tested for tuberculosis during her prolonged hospital stay, her rep tells PEOPLE. “She has a chest infection and she had a routine test for TB, which came back negative,” Chris Goodman tells PEOPLE.

Goodman also denies a report – in U.K. tabloid The Sun – that she has been coughing up blood at the London clinic where she was taken after fainting earlier this week.

The troubled singer, 24, is still undergoing tests and doctors will soon decide whether she is able to keep her upcoming performing commitments. One insider says her chances of performing for Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration in London on June 27 are “50/50.”

“She would really love to do the show – she always wants to do these things,” said Goodman. “But she will listen to her doctors.”

[From People]

Amy Winehouse not showing up to a big performance isn’t exactly newsworthy anymore. Having a legitimate excuse NOT TO be there is definitely newsworthy, at least for her. I think it’d be great if doctors keep her in the hospital as long as possible. It certainly couldn’t make things worse. Though one has to wonder if she’s also going through withdrawals, since presumably she’s not shooting up in the ICU. Though if anybody could figure out a way to get it done, it’s Winehouse.

Here’s Amy and her dad Mitch on the way to the hospital; header of Amy right before she fainted on Monday. Images thanks to WENN.

Amy Winehouse fainted on Monday after signing some autographs at her London home. Her father took her to the hospital, where she’s luckily been ever since. Everyone’s acting like Amy has some mysterious condition – running lots of tests and talking in (internet) whispered voices. You know what illness Winehouse is suffering from? Drugs. I know the next logical smart ass question is “Where’d you get your medical degree JayBird?” From the University of Duh. It was a really rigorous program.

Amy Winehouse’s fainting spell has her doctors stumped. The “Rehab” chanteuse has been hospitalized since blacking out Monday, and doctors at the London facility where she’s being treated are conducting further tests, her rep said today, to get to the bottom of what ails her before she resumes performing later this month.

Winehouse’s father, Mitch, who drove his daughter to the clinic, told London’s Telegraph that his daughter will remain hospitalized “as long as possible” until her physicians determine a proper diagnosis.

“Amy is doing fine,” he added.

Winehouse’s camp denied a report by the Sun tabloid she was suffering from an irregular heartbeat and that she was ordered by doctors to clean up her act and quit drugs or risk dying.

[From E! News]

Something tells me living as hard as Amy Winehouse does can really shorten your life expectancy. At first I assumed she’d overdosed, but perhaps she’s caused herself some serious damage, and that’s what’s caused her to faint. You simply can’t expect that you can snort and shoot everything that doesn’t walk and your body will thank you for it.

Here’s Amy with her dad Mitch leaving her home to go to ‘The Clinic’ in London on Monday. Images thanks to Splash.

Summertime is here, and you know what that means you have to get ready for: a sudden, inexplicable wave of celebrities suffering from massive dehydration. You may say to yourself, “Oh that makes sense, it’s summer.” But the percentage of celebrities who suffer from hospital-worthy dehydration is about 300 times greater than it is in the rest of the population.

Kid Rock started off this year’s dehydration season by knocking a few too many back on Thursday night, which led to him being rushed to a Nottingham, England hospital right before he was scheduled to perform at a music festival.

Kid Rock was rushed to the hospital minutes before he was to head on stage Friday at a music festival in England, according to British press reports. Organizers of the Download Festival said the rocker, 37, had been hospitalized in Nottingham, which is 99 miles north of London. He was suffering from stomach cramps and dehydration, his spokesman told the music magazine NME.

Rock had been due on the festival’s main stage around 3.30 p.m. Friday, but an announcement came over the public-address system a few minutes before saying Rock was unwell.

He had reportedly attended a late-night event at Central London’s Whisky Mist nightclub that had continued into the early hours of June 13.

[From People]

Something tells me that if anyone is upfront enough to admit why he was so dehydrated, it’s Kid Rock. He also recently told The Guardian that he and Tommy Lee have patched up their feud – in fact Rock used the word “friends” to refer to the two of them. And while he says he’s alright with Pamela Anderson, he admitted he doesn’t go out of his way to chat her up. “If I see her, I say hello, but I kind of don’t want to be on that scene… I touched the stove, it’s f—— hot, I don’t want to touch it any more.”

I think a lot of people feel that way about Pamela Anderson’s stove. Except Tommy Lee.

Here’s Kid Rock leaving Whiskey Mist at Zeta in Mayfair… and Bungalo 8 earlier in the evening of June 12th, the night before he suffered from dehydration. Images thanks to WENN.

A couple of weeks ago we reported that CariDee English, winner of cycle 7 of the Tyra Banks’ reality show “America’s Next Top Model,” was hospitalized for dehydration. We didn’t buy the whole “dehydration” excuse, and now the National Enquirer smells a rat, too.

“America’s Next Top Model” winner CariDee English recently attempted suicide by taking an overdose of pills just hours after joining other celebrities for the grand opening of a new casino, The Enquirer has learned exclusively.

“She was so scared,” said an insider. “She kept saying she didn’t mean to do what she did.”

The near-tragedy occurred in the early morning hours of May 18 after the opening ceremonies at Connecticut’s MGM Grand at Foxwoods Casino.

Sexy blonde CariDee, 23, had strutted her stuff for photographers on the red carpet and then attended a party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs.

“She was drinking pretty heavily at that party, a lot of wine,” said the insider. “At about 4 a.m., someone from her room called down to the front desk and asked that security report to the room.

“CariDee was in sweatpants and a cut-off T-shirt sitting on the toilet, saying that she took about 10 pills for depression and anxiety.

“She said it was a stupid thing. She was feeling depressed because she was having problems with her boyfriend. She was pretty well intoxicated and was slurring her words.”

[From The National Enquirer print version, June 9, 2008]

In her sweatpants, on the toilet? Damn, that must be embarrassing! Reportedly, hotel security called for an ambulance to transport her to the hospital, where she was admitted and stayed for several days. I should also add that in the photos taken of her “strutting her stuff” on the carpet, she looks totally wasted. At this point, the shame of being on a Tyra Banks program probably doesn’t seem so bad anymore.

In the weeks prior to the overdose, CariDee broke up with her longtime boyfriend from her hometown, and is now reportedly dating Tyson Beckford. It’s not clear which of them she was referring to.

Get well soon, CariDee.

CariDee English is shown at the CW Network 2008 Upfronts on 5/13/08, thanks to WENN.

The UCLA Medical Centre has been under scrutiny because of confidential details of celebrity treatment being leaked to the media, most notably the medical details of Britney Spears’ breakdown (her psychiatric records were supposedly closed to generally employee access) and Farrah Fawcett’s cancer treatment. Now it seems that at least one employee, Lawanda Jackson, is going to face criminal charges about the incident.

The indictment refers to an unidentified national media outlet, but a source familiar with the matter confirmed that the paper was the National Enquirer.

According to the indictment, Jackson received at least $4,600 from the publication through checks made out to her husband. The agreement lasted from about 2006 until at least May 21, 2007, according to the indictment.

Jackson faces up to 10 years in prison if she is convicted of the charge. Such charges involving the disclosure of medical records are rare.

LA Times

While anyone in the public eye gives up a certain amount of their privacy, it is absolutely wrong to violate someone’s medical records, particularly for the paltry sum of $4,600.

We reported in March that 13 UCLA staff members had been fired, a further six were suspended, and another six doctors had been disciplined for looking at Britney Spears’ files. This was not the first time staff had snooped at records, they looked at Britney’s medical files (psychiatric files are closed to all other areas of the hospital) when she was hospitalized in January for a breakdown, and also when she gave birth to her first son Sean Preston in 2005.

The hospital tried to claim that it was an interest in a ‘particular person’ referring to Britney, but since then it has also been revealed that Farrah Fawcett’s files were looked at, the information sold to the National Enquirer, and this is the case in question today. Lawanda Jackson is the first employee to be charged with leaking information to the media, despite the hospital’s previous statement there was ‘no evidence to suggest that any employee leaked information or sold it’.

The hospital has a PIN number system that shows who is looking at medical records, but doesn’t have a system in place to stop people from looking at the records. While it would be great to be able to trust all of the hospital’s employees, someone like Lawanda Jackson might just sell the information if they need the money badly enough. The LA Times reports she was $37,300 in debt in 2001, when she filed for bankruptcy.

UCLA should make all medical records private, not just a celebrity patient’s information. If you were undergoing an acrimonious divorce, or were involved in a car accident, or any kind of incident that might get you attention from the media, you would not want your personal history up for sale to the highest bidder either.

Photos are of Britney’s breakdown in early January, thanks to Splash.

The upcoming James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, seems like it’s plagued by bad luck, and the latest news is incredibly disheartening. On Saturday a stunt driver walked away with minor injuries after a car accident in which a rare Aston Martin slipped off a steep road and sunk to the bottom of Italy’s Lake Garda. Now comes news that a stuntman had serious head injuries in a crash with another car driven by a stuntman, again “on a winding lakeside road” near Lake Garda. It sounds as if it’s touch and go for the stuntman, because they say he suffered serious head injuries and had to undergo surgery. The second stuntman has been treated and released:

Officials in the Italian resort of Lake Garda say a stuntman was gravely injured in a car crash while filming the new James Bond movie.

A spokesman for the northern town of Limone sul Garda says the stuntman suffered serious head injuries when he and another stuntman crashed during a car chase sequence on a winding lakeside road.

The spokesman says the stuntman underwent surgery at a hospital in nearby Verona. He said the second stuntman was slightly injured.

The accident occurred on the last day of filming at the lake on Wednesday.

[AP via The Huffington Post]

It’s a dangerous profession, but they should have the stunts planned out well enough so that the risks are calculated. Our thoughts go out to the stuntman in the hospital, and hopefully he will have a full recovery despite the very serious accident he suffered. I know I don’t want to hear about this James Bond movie again for a while unless it’s good news, and you have to wonder if they’re trying to rush production given the fact that they’ve had two accidents this week.

I used to think British “supermodel” Katie Price, aka Jordan, was a world class moron. Then I asked myself, “Self, why do you think that?” And I realized it was because of the big fake boobs, fake hair, fake teeth, fake tan… and all these very superficial things. I’d never head the woman speak, so it didn’t seem fair to judge her to be a complete moron. So here I was, sitting at my desk, trying to give Katie Price another chance when she completely out-morons anyone I’ve heard of in a long time.

Katie and her husband, heterosexually questionable Peter Andre, are in Los Angeles filming and promoting their reality TV show for E! Her daughter, 9-month old Princess Tiáamii (yes that’s her real name, I’m not mocking the poor kid) came down with a serious case of chicken pox right before they arrived. What does worried mother Katie Price do? She insists the show go on, and not let little Princess Tiáamii ruin everyone else’s good time.

But when Jordan’s daughter Princess Tiáamii caught the infectious disease while on holiday in Los Angeles, the glamour model was insistent life should carry on as normal. Despite medical recommendations to keep a chicken pox sufferer at home, the glamour model brought the nine-month-old baby for a day out in Beverly Hills - and her spotty appearance certainly caused a stir.

Arriving at LAX airport, Katie admitted Princess had caught the virus from older brother Junior. She said: “She’s covered in chicken pox. How typical. She’ll be alright. Junior’s just had them.” On Sunday, the couple left Harvey and Junior with the nanny to show ailing Princess the sights of Beverly Hills.

[From the Daily Mail]

The two parents proceeded to prance around Los Angeles, eating lunch outside while pausing to make out, then shopping for hundreds of dollars of clothing. All the while, they were dragging along their horribly sick, spotted, and contagious child for the paparazzi to swarm. Absolutely lovely. Not surprisingly, the day ended with a trip to the hospital for little Princess Tiáamii. Luckily she appeared to be okay, and was given some medicine and ordered to stay on bed rest. Perhaps inside with the nanny that Jordan left her two healthy children with.

Here’s Katie Price and a sick little Princess Tiáamii yesterday out and about in L.A. Images thanks to WENN.

Star Magazine probably paid someone off to give them confidential details of Jessica Simpson’s medical condition. The singer checked into the hospital on March 28 for a four day stay for what was widely reported to be a kidney infection. She did have a kidney infection, according to Star, but they claim that it was caused by too much alcohol. What’s more is that she asked for a pregnancy test, which I guess we can assume was negative unless it was for her sister:

[Jessica Simpson] was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. on March 28 and remained there for four days. Reps for the singer said she was being treated for a “kidney infection,” but an insider tells Star it was more than that. Jessica’s health problems were “brought on by drinking an obscene amount of alcohol,” says the source. “She was treated for a kidney infection, a bladder infection and a urinary tract infection.”

Adding to her distress, anxious Jessica asked doctors to give her a pregnancy test! “She was a nervous wreck,” says the insider. “She was three weeks late and convinced she was pregnant. She was feeling really weak and really scared. She was unraveling.”

Since her divorce from Nick Lachey in 2006, Jessica has dated a string of men, including musician John Mayer. But after hooking up with Dallas Cowboys hunk Tony in November, insiders say her partying and drinking are out of control.

[From Star Magazine’s Website]

Star Magazine is pretty low on the gossip totem pole and has been known to whip up a story with wishful thinking, but they could have a snooping source who got access to Simpson’s supposedly confidential medical records. Either way, that’s pretty low and you kind of feel sorry for the girl. She did have medical condition, and it sounds like the alcohol just exacerbated it, but didn’t cause it. From what I’ve read, alcohol, caffeine and spicy foods are a bladder irritant, and bladder infections are caused by bacteria, not by drinking too much. Maybe it wasn’t until she drank too much and felt the terrible effects that she realized she had an infection and needed to get treatment. Either way, it’s not our business and I feel bad even talking about it. Hell, I’ve been there on both counts and it sucks! Usually I can’t relate to Jessica Simpson, but in this case she has my sympathy. At least she’s not pregnant, though. I can’t imagine that woman trying to raise a child, but I guess that isn’t my business either and there are worse parents. Not that her sister and her emo boyfriend come to mind or anything.

Jessica Simpson is shown at LAX Airport on 4/13/08, thanks to Splash.