COMMENTA RY
Charity Vogel: Mother’s outrage has become quest
It was only after Heather died that her mother found the bottles. More than 20 of them: small vials, tucked into purses and hidden in drawers in the bedroom where Heather Begeny’s heart stopped beating on a Sunday morning in March 2003.
Anorexia and bulimia killed Heather Begeny, by causing the cardiac arrest that ended her life at 22. Her mother, Debbie, knows that.
But when she found the bottles of ipecac, while going through Heather’s effects, some part of her anguish turned into a far more potent emotion: anger.
That’s when Debbie Begeny decided this couldn’t happen anymore. Not to one more family.
“Kids can’t buy cigarettes, but they can walk into Wegmans or Tops and buy ipecac,” said Begeny, her eyes glinting. “They can’t buy wine, but they can buy this stuff.”
As she speaks, Begeny gestures around her Kenmore living room, which is a shrine to Heather’s life. Photos of the young woman, a dark-haired beauty with a wide grin, grace the mantel. Heather’s art fills the walls. Her Hello Kitty toy sits on a trunk filled with her clothes and beloved Coach purse. Even Heather’s platinum Discover card is on display.
“We went to the mall every Saturday,” her mother said. “And yes, she would always get something.”
Begeny believes her daughter didn’t have to die. Her outrage has become a quest to see changes in the way ipecac is sold.
She’s made big strides. Legislation that would restrict ipecac sales is before the State Senate right now. A few weeks ago, the Assembly passed a proposed law — sponsored by Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, who worked with Begeny on the issue— by a unanimous vote.
Ipecac, a syrup that can be purchased at drugstores and supermarkets for less than $3, has traditionally been used as a means of inducing vomiting. But the product has become, over time, a tool of anorexics and bulimics who want to purge their bodies violently of food.
Begeny, 54, was shocked to learn about this insidious use after Heather’s death.
“When she died, there was not one trace of food in her GI tract,” said Begeny. “If they get one bottle, that’s bad enough. But they shouldn’t be able to get 10.”
The story of Heather Begeny is heartbreaking. There’s no doubt about that.
It also raises some tricky questions about our access to products that may, in some hands, be used for improper ends.
This is America, after all: the land that has always erred on the side of letting people do exactly what they want to themselves—even if it’s harmful.
But here are two points to keep in mind:
One, the new law wouldn’t eliminate people’s access to ipecac. It wouldn’t even make it prescription-only. All it would do is make it harder to get, by putting it behind a pharmacist’s counter.
“At least it will compel somebody to ask questions,” said Hoyt.
Two, a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee, after studying ipecac, called the product outmoded and a potential hazard, and said it should be less available.
If New York takes action on this matter soon, it will be among the first states in the country to do so.
For Heather, it will still be too late.
But if Debbie Begeny can go to sleep at night feeling she’s spared one other family such grief, then her daughter’s death will seem a little less cruel.
Heather didn’t know what ipecac would do. But we do. That’s the difference.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments
Learn more about our moderation system.