Harsh Reality of 'Osbournes' No Laughing Matter

With cameras rolling, Ozzy Osbourne fell on his backside into the surf off Malibu. He passed out during a party at the Beverly Hills Hotel. He struggled to swat a fly in his dining room -- only to slap himself in the face.

The sight of the aging rocker staggering around his Beverly Hills mansion, glassy-eyed and mumbling, became a staple of the MTV series last season.

The cause of Osbourne's disorientation was never explained. It turns out he was on Valium -- and Dexedrine, Mysoline, Adderall and a host of other powerful medications. They were all prescribed by a Beverly Hills physician who, unknown to Osbourne, was under investigation for overprescribing drugs to other celebrity patients.

Prescription records show that Dr. David A. Kipper had Osbourne on an array of potent drugs -- opiates, tranquilizers, amphetamines, antidepressants, even an antipsychotic.

The singer said he swallowed as many as 42 pills a day.

"I was wiped out on pills," said Osbourne, who fired Kipper in September, more than a year after becoming his patient. "I couldn't talk. I couldn't walk. I could barely stand up. I was lumbering about like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. It got to the point where I was scared to close my eyes at night -- afraid I might not wake up."

The state medical board last week moved to revoke Kipper's license, accusing him of gross negligence in his treatment of other patients.

Osbourne, who has battled substance abuse for decades, sought Kipper's help last year in kicking a dependence on prescription narcotics. Kipper administered a 10-day detoxification treatment. Osbourne was grateful. Then his wife, Sharon, was diagnosed with cancer, and the rocker's relationship with Kipper took a new turn.

Kipper began writing prescriptions for a broad range of medications he said would alleviate Osbourne's anxiety and depression over his wife's illness. The number and potency of the drugs grew steadily, records show. At one point, Osbourne was on 13 different medications.

Medical experts who reviewed Osbourne's prescription records at The Times' request described the drug regimen as extreme.

Although they said they could not make definitive judgments without examining Osbourne and knowing his medical history, the doctors said the battery of medications prescribed by Kipper appeared excessive for any patient.