Eric Dane wrote candidly about addiction and recovery in his posthumous memoir, My Book of Days. The actor recalled that his first experience with heroin in the early 1990s left him vomiting, but he initially believed he could use the drug cautiously after a friend named Dante introduced him to it.
Dane described himself and his friends as careful users who did not inject heroin. Over time, however, he said he became proficient at injecting it. By 1997, he had stopped using heroin and began taking painkillers after sinus surgery. Although his prescription allowed up to 12 pills a day, Dane wrote that he took 40.
He said Percocet offered a high similar to heroin. As his dependence worsened, he became so desperate for pills that he searched through drawers in an emergency room while a doctor was out and took syringes. The doctor recommended a seven-day detox, but Dane left the hospital. After friends found him with heroin and the stolen syringes, he agreed to return for help.
Dane later tried to leave while detoxing and was taken to a mental health facility next to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He wrote that his friends had arranged for him to be placed on a 72-hour involuntary hold. After doctors determined he needed more time in treatment, he went to a state-sponsored program and stayed for 88 days.
The actor said he eventually quit drugs after five years of use because he feared he would die. In the memoir, he also reflected on taking medication after his ALS diagnosis in 2024, describing those drugs as necessary to treat the illness. Dane made his diagnosis public in April 2025 and died in February at age 53. My Book of Days was published November 3.
Sources: Us Weekly.