Pubdate: Sun, 29 Jan 2006
Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright: 2006 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact: https://miva.nando.com/contact_us/letter_editor.html
Website: http://www.news-observer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author: Jerry Allegood, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

CANCER PATIENT'S AID IS FATAL TO FRIEND

Fussell Is Charged With Sharing Drugs That Killed Her Neighbor.

Jerry Allegood,  Celeste Fussell called Glenda Mae Lee her
children's "other grandmama," a neighbor who was always there when she
was coping with a brain tumor. So when Lee got a migraine headache in
July, Fussell wanted to ease her friend's pain.

Fussell shared her cancer pain medication, which comes in a container
on a stick. Though people call it a lollipop, it delivers fentanyl, a
powerful narcotic. "I was trying to help," Fussell said in an
interview at her home last week. "They wouldn't give her anything."

But Lee, 54, died from what authorities said was a drug overdose.
Fussell, 43, a former elementary school teacher and mother of three
sons, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and several drug
offenses. Arrested Jan. 19, she was released on $50,000 bail pending
trial. "It's sad both ways for both sides," said Fussell's attorney,
Reginald Kenan of Warsaw. "It's one that tears your heart."

Investigators said the case illustrates the hazards of sharing
prescription medication.

"The last thing you need to be doing is sharing drugs," said District
Attorney G. Dewey Hudson Jr., Duplin County prosecutor. He said
Fussell was not charged with murder because investigators have found
no evidence of malicious intent.

The Lee and Fussell families live across the road from each other in
the Albertson community in Duplin County, about 70 miles southeast of
Raleigh. Fussell's husband, Robert, is the minister of Snow Hill Free
Will Baptist Church near Mount Olive. He said he, his wife and three
sons moved to Albertson about six years ago to be closer to his wife's
family. Donna Gavette, a friend of Fussell and former teaching
colleague, said Fussell would often do more than provide classroom
instruction for her pupils. She said she gave clothes, lunch money and
books to needy children. "Celeste is the type of person who will do
whatever she can to help out," Gavette said.

Robert Fussell said his wife had surgery for a brain tumor in May 2003
and has been dealing with pain and other complications ever since.
"The pain never went away," he said.

Devoted friend gone In a brief interview at her home last week,
Celeste Fussell appeared dazed, her eyes bright and glassy. She beamed
when she talked about her family and volunteer work with cancer
awareness and treatment programs. She pulled her curly hair back to
display scars from her surgery and described headaches that never go
away. But she became more emotional when she mentioned Lee. Fussell
said she and Glenda Lee took painting classes together and talked
while doing household chores. "She would come over and start folding
clothes," she said.

"When I was sick with my brain tumor, she was out in my yard pulling
weeds out of my flowers."

Robert Fussell said the two friends were nearly inseparable. "It got
to the point that if you wanted to find where she [Lee] was you would
call here," he said. He declined to discuss Lee's death on the advice
of his attorney. The investigation Duplin County Sheriff Blake Wallace
said there was no evidence that Celeste Fussell obtained the drugs
illegally or sold narcotics, though she is also charged with illegally
delivering fentanyl and drug trafficking. Those charges stem from the
amount of drugs involved in Lee's death -- more than 4 grams but less
than 14 grams.

Investigators said the medication was delivered between July 15 and
July 17, the day Lee died. A document prepared by medical examiner
Hervy B. Kornegay said Lee was found unresponsive at her home by her
family. Investigating officers and emergency medical personnel found
nothing to suggest it was anything other than a natural death, the
report said, but the cause was not clear. Lee had been seen by her
primary care physician two days earlier with a severe headache. The
report said she had a history of migraines and high blood pressure.
She had taken Lopressor, a blood pressure medicine, the
anti-depressant Zoloft and hydrocodone for pain.

Wallace said Lee's family told investigators about the fentanyl
lollipop from Fussell. Authorities ordered an autopsy and additional
testing for chemicals in blood and tissue.

The levels of fentanyl in Lee's liver and blood were high enough to
kill someone who had not been taking the drug, according to the
autopsy report. William F. Kelly, a Jacksonville pathologist who
performed the autopsy, said last week that there was no indication
that other medications interacted with the fentanyl but that someone
who had not been taking fentanyl would be more vulnerable to a toxic
level.

"It could be very low and still cause death," he said. Rift divides
families Once close, the Lee and Fussell families are now on opposite
sides of the criminal case. A civil case is also possible.

Tim Smith of Kenansville, an attorney for Lee's husband, Brentwood
Forest Lee, said he and another lawyer are gathering information for a
wrongful death lawsuit against Fussell. "He's not a vindictive person,
but he has been wronged," Smith said.

He said Lee, who works in engineering, lost his soul mate in his wife
and was still in shock from her death. Efforts to reach Lee were
unsuccessful. Across the road, Celeste Fussell's tumors have returned,
and Robert Fussell said he wasn't sure of her prognosis. Celeste
Fussell stared out her living room window to the house where Glenda
Lee lived.

"She is so missed by everybody," she said. "I'd do anything in the
world to bring her back."
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