On July 24, singer and actress Demi Lovato suffered a serious overdose. It was originally reported that Lovato's overdose was caused by heroin, since paramedics had to use Narcan to bring her back to consciousness. Narcan is only used to counter the effects of opioids.
However, Lovato's team denied that heroin was the cause of her overdose. The singer's friends, who were at her house when paramedics arrived, refused to divulge what she had taken. Law enforcement is still insistent that it was heroin, based on what they observed.
Lovato was found unconscious in her home around 11:30 a.m., and her friends called 911. They asked that paramedics show up without sirens due to Lovato's celebrity status, but this request was denied. According to a source close to Lovato, if paramedics had shown up a minute later, "she could have died."
A statement was released on Lovato's condition by her team:
Demi is awake and with her family, who want to express thanks to everyone for the love, prayers and support. Some of the information being reported is incorrect and they respectfully ask for privacy and not speculation as her health and recovery is the most important thing right now.
Now, a week after her overdose, Lovato is suffering from "complications" which are keeping her in the hospital. TMZ reported that the singer is suffering from extreme nausea and a high fever, among other things, which are stalling any attempt at getting her to go to rehab.
"Demi wasn't doing well over the weekend," a source told People. "She came down with a fever and showed signs of an infection."
Lovato's mental state of mind is not clear enough to discuss rehab options with her family and doctors, with one source saying "we just don't know where her head is at." It's clear that she desperately needs some type of treatment, which her team tried to tell her months ago.
Lovato fired her long-time manager, Phil McIntyre, which TMZ reports was caused by him staging an intervention to get the singer into rehab.
As for when Lovato can be released from the hospital, doctors don't want to put a date on it. However, from the sounds of it, it won't be any time soon.
That being said, one source says "she is under the care of medical experts and is expected to make a full recovery."
If you or someone you know is suffering from addiction, you can find resources to help through the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
[H/T: TMZ]