METERMy name is Carly McCarter. I am writing about my friend who was severely polydrug and died.
Joey and I met through Instagram. She was on the hit medical show. emergencies and I had created a fan page for the show six years ago. We were messaging through that for four years, and when he returned to Los Angeles, he and I started talking more and more. Joey lived a clean and simple life until she was given medication for his anxiety. Here is the story of him.
Joseph Salvadore Marino Jr. was known as Joey for his friends. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is the second oldest of four. Joey had a deep passion for theater, basketball, and all things health related. Everyone who knew him knew this.
Joey was a ball boy for New Orleans Jazz in 1976 and had gotten to know Pete Maravich, also known as Pistol Pete. That was Joey’s first hero and he would still talk about him until his passing.
Joey was a personal trainer and loved helping people achieve their fitness goals. He loved lifting weights and challenging himself every day. He studied theaterAhem and communication at the University of NO and would work out at Gold’s Gym.
Joey visited hollywood in 1984 and I was determined to have a career there. In 1992 he met Anthony Edwards and was his replacement in the film. delta heatwhich landed him a permanent role as Anthony’s replacement on the hit medical show. emergencies from 1997 to 2009. Joey also played an orderly and a nurse on the show.
It was a career that changed his life.
Joey’s Friends who I spent 12 to 18 hours a day on set with always said I had anxiety about leaving the set. He would suffer panic attacks on set.
Joey’s dad had heart problems and it caused Joey anxiety. Joey always had some anxiety throughout his life. When Hurricane Katrina occurred, with the stress of what His family and friends stopped by, Joey went to his doctor and was prescribed a beta blocker.
After ER ended, Joey continued Harry’s Law with Kathy Bates and was also in The crazy ones with Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Once she ended up in Los Angeles, she had to return to Mississippi, where her mother lived. Joey never felt comfortable there.
2015 was when Joey started taking medication. He was first given Prozac, which made him suicidal within a few days. When Prozac didn’t help, he was prescribed other medications such as Propranolol, Trazodone, Klonopin, and Valium, just to name a few. His friend who worked as an advocate was with Joey during his appointments and would agree with the doctors about what Joey should take next.
Joey began to notice for the first time that his fingers were moving and he couldn’t do simple things like hold his phone without dropping it. He tried to tell his family and doctors and they simply told him he would be fine.
Joey was also given Seroquel. When she began to realize what was happening, she began to decrease the dosage, the first time not only taking Seroquel but also Valium.
Joey developed akathisia, tardive dyskinesia, and dystonia. around 2021. No one could tell him what it was. Not until she was in the emergency room in Los Angeles, where a doctor recognized that this was drug damage and that what he was experiencing were side effects.
Joey’s life was crippled by these medications. he had developed a severe movement disorder and treated with constant writhing in his hands, fingers, arms and everything on her body. He wanted to be able to exercise and not have to pay for it with strong movements and twists. Even when it came to eating, he would go against him.yes They took away his dopamine. Every time she ate something red like pizza, would make his akathisia flare up. Sleeping was a challenge for him, although he loved sleeping. He always had to devise a system to get some sleep.
In 2022 he entered the hospital to try to get help. From January 2022 until the end of February he was in the hospital in Mississippi until a friend picked him up and brought him back to Los Angeles for treatment.
Joey had looked for different ways to improve. He had been to several different neurologists. in the Angels and in Mississippi. Joey had tried alternative medicine, tried stem cells, tried myofascial release, but it didn’t help.
Joey had recorded videos with a friend he was staying with to spread the word about what these medications had done to him. We try to go to the media to help spread the message.
I wanted to make a documentary about the life I lived through constant fear and pain. Being ignored by his family and told by ER doctors and neurologists that it was incurable didn’t help Joey have tons of hope. He just wanted to get better.
In March of last year I assumed power of attorney for Joey. He He was in the hospital in March and was given additional medications along with the Klonopin It had started in January. The other two medications were Carbamazepine to help with seizures (never did for him) and trihexyphenidyl which was to help with tardive dyskinesia; that didn’t completely help him either. He was able to walk a little better and was able to stand and be a little better during the day.
the doctor at the hospital He wanted Joey to do a spinal tap to see if anything else was going on. It was extremely dangerous to do so and he ended up failing. The doctor just left him as he is. Like every other place he had been, Joey was ignored.
TOafter that become hard to getmy medications he was taking. in tThe hospitals you would go to would tell you that you need to see your GP. And then the doctor would say you need to see a neurologist. There are wbefore Sometimes he ran out and was about to die suddenly.
northNo one would listen to us and the concerns we had. If anything, they would just add more medications that didn’t help. Joey took almost thirty different medications between 2015 and 2024.
In October 2023 Joey began to slowly decrease he Klonopin, Carbamazmypine and trihexyphenidyl. but aAs time passed, things became more difficult.
He finally decided that it was too difficult and that he didn’t want to be here and suffer anymore. What was it hard because he loved life so much. He really didn’t want to leave and his friends didn’t want him to leave. But he didn’t want to continue going through all this.
In December 2023, Joey decided to voluntarily stop eating and drinking.
He I wasn’t qualified to get a palliative care nurse. After some searching, we were told that once he stopped eating and drinking for a few days he would qualify for hospice care.
On December 29, that began. On January 2 she had started drinking a little and on the 5th she started eating again. But his movements had become even worse than in the past.
Then Joey decided to go back to not eating or drinking. A few days before Joey passed away, he told me that he had very bad chest pains. He sounded like he had heart failure.
Joey passed away in the early morning hours of January 14 after a difficult ten-year battle. He didn’t want to live the rest of his life. bedridden and can no longer enjoy the life he once had and loved so much.
After all, his friends were his real family. Joey told me that all the time. He felt that his friends, no matter what happened, were there for him. That they would do everything they could for him. To those who were his friends and were a great support system for him… I honestly can’t thank you enough. There were so many times that he didn’t know what to do, who to turn to, and so many who knew him stepped in without hesitation when he needed it most.
Joey was friends with Christina Huff who recently passed away as well. She was a big influence on Joey. She was trying to help him with the medicine decreasing. As many fears came over me, I felt grateful and grateful for what she was trying to do to help.
With all the medications Joey was on, I don’t know how he lasted this long. He was strong and he was willing to try to improve.
Joey was loved by many who had the opportunity to know him. He was a wonderful guy, very full of life. Even through all the pain he felt, he always tried to make people laugh and knew how to tell a joke at the right time. His voice impressions were one of the many things that everyone who knew him loved about him. joey was an expert with voice impressions, there were almost none he couldn’t do.
There needs to be more informed consent with these medications. If Joey was more aware of the possible side effects from the beginning, I think she would still be here today. He was always sorry and I always told him that he was just trying to get help.
Joey He is loved and deeply missed. It was a true honor to meet you.
