The Star, the Doctor and the Drugs

Re “Harsh Reality of ‘Osbournes’ No Laughing Matter,� Dec. 7: As a patient of Dr. David A. Kipper, I have always found his care-giving to be highly professional and conservative. The Times’ depiction of him as some sort of drug-pushing Svengali is, in a word, absurd.

Blaming Kipper for Ozzy Osbourne’s drug problems is a bit like blaming Michael Jackson’s plastic surgeon for the way his face turned out. Nobody put a gun to Osbourne’s head and forced him to take meds he didn’t want or need. On the contrary, far more likely is that Osbourne, a drug abuser of rock-mythic proportions, used his wealth and celebrity status to manipulate Kipper into medicating -- and perhaps over-medicating -- him in a desperate bid to stem his addiction to drugs. If Kipper is guilty of anything, it’s probably of caring too much for his celebrity patients and being a bit “star-struck.� Funny, Ozzy didn’t seem to mind until he got the bill.

Morton L. Shallman

Valley Village

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The only difference between Kipper and a common drug peddler is the price of their suits.

Venida Korda

Van Nuys

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I have been Dr. Kipper’s patient for almost eight years. I am 79 and am on Medicare. Never have I been denied an appointment when needed. Not only have I always been treated with the utmost care and respect, but when Kipper felt I had need of a medication that was expensive, he would give me what samples he had in his office. In 2002 when I was in Cedars-Sinai for a fractured pelvis and hip replacement, Kipper visited me four or five times a week. May I suggest you get both sides of a story before continuing your persecution of the doctor?

David Graham

Los Angeles

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Get real, Ozzy. You, your wife Sharon and the kids know more about drugs and their effects than the doctors do. But suing your doctor for the bills would be cheaper than buying them on the street. Right?

Diana Mitchell

Palm Springs