Elizabeth Taylor’s Struggle with Addiction and Pills Revealed

In the 1980s, Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor's excessive pill consumption raised concerns to the extent that a medical expert examining her records thought she might be deceased because of the dangerously high dosages she was taking.

By 1983, Taylor's pill dependency had escalated to a point where her then-daughter-in-law, Aileen Getty, took action by filing a complaint with a regulatory agency regarding the overprescription practices of some of Taylor's doctors.

This complaint led to the revelation that between 1983 and 1988, three of Taylor's physicians collectively issued 1,000 prescriptions for twenty-eight different drugs, including tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and painkillers, as detailed by Brower.

During this period, Taylor's situation deteriorated to the extent that she requested her son, Christopher Wilding, to inject her with the potent synthetic opioid Demerol.

Wilding recalls an unsettling incident where his mother, already under the influence of substances, asked him to administer the injection, a request he refused, as described in the book.

The turbulent marriage between Taylor and Virginia Senator John Warner from 1976 to 1982 witnessed instances of Taylor's substance abuse.

Her struggles with alcoholism worsened during this period, exacerbated by her tumultuous relationship with Welsh actor Richard Burton, who battled his own severe alcohol addiction.

The couple's encounters were often fueled by alcohol, becoming a significant factor in their stormy union, as emphasized by Brower.

Taylor's battle with alcoholism persisted through her marriages, leading her to seek solace in pain medication during her time in Washington as a senator's wife.

Despite her divorce in 1981 and return to Los Angeles, Taylor's addiction to painkillers continued to spiral.

Surrounded by loyal aides and housekeepers who overlooked her escalating problem, Taylor managed to manipulate her doctors into fulfilling her demands for medication, a struggle highlighted by Brower.

In 1983, after an intervention by loved ones, Taylor sought treatment at the Betty Ford Center for alcohol addiction but maintained her pill usage under the guise of legitimate prescriptions.

However, subsequent interventions in 1988, orchestrated by friend George Hamilton, yielded little progress as Taylor refused to fully commit to recovery, resulting in her departure from the facility.

Despite her ongoing struggles, Taylor found herself marrying construction worker Larry Fortensky while in rehab in 1991.

Their tumultuous relationship saw Fortensky relapse into alcoholism, leading to their eventual separation.

Taylor continued grappling with her addictions until her passing in 2011 at the age of 79, marking the end of a lifelong battle with substance abuse.