Roy Halladay’s father was concerned that the Hall of Fame pitcher had been misusing prescription drugs prior to his fatal airplane crash, according to documents from investigators.
NTSB officials spoke to Halladay’s father after the flight, according to TMZ Sports, and were told that Halladay had enrolled himself into an in-house program to battle an addiction to Lorazepam a few years before his death. The officials were told that Halladay’s father was “concerned that Roy was abusing prescription medications, and that may have played a role in the accident.”
Halladay’s father added that the pitcher was suffering from anxiety and depression around the time of the accident. The report also states that “Mr. Halladay had a feeling that his son did not appreciate the dangers involved with flying.”
Halladay’s doctor also told investigators that the pitcher had sought treatment a second time for drug misuse, and suffered from chronic back pain as well.
Some tough details in new NTSB docket on baseball great Roy Halladay's fatal 2017 plane crash. Per his doctor, he battled chronic back pain, depression & insomnia and went to rehab in '13 & '15 for opioid, benzodiazepine misuse. Several drugs were in his system at time of crash.
— Mike Sisak (@mikesisak) April 15, 2020
An autopsy revealed that Halladay had a dangerous amount of drugs in his body at the time of his death, which could be further evidence that his father’s fears are correct.
Halladay was killed on Nov. 7, 2017 when the plane he was flying crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.
