Texas Roadhouse CEO Kent Taylor Took His Life After Battling Severe Tinnitus Caused by COVID-19

[BuzzyBee]

Yeah. It puzzled me that people attacked me on some "taxonomic basis", like they assumed that my comment meant to downplay others' suffering. Saying that severe tinnitus is one of the worst ailments does not imply (in any possible logical system) that chronic pain or trigeminal neuralgia are a walk in the park...

They're idiots. I'm sorry that happened to you on Facebook.

It's been a hard day and I can't stop thinking about this. I can totally see how tinnitus would drive one to suicide, but he really hadn't had it for that long. Maybe COVID-19 changed something in his brain? Why do some of us fight it and others just give in? Was it just easy access to a gun? Did he have any sort of support system? Why?

 

[HootOwl]

Wow... this just breaks my heart... I don't really know what to say. I wish he could have held out for a bit longer for some of the drugs that are hitting market in the next few years, but severe tinnitus just beats you down so hard I know why he thought there was no other way out.

 

[Lucifer]

Wow... this just breaks my heart... I don't really know what to say. I wish he could have held out for a bit longer for some of the drugs that are hitting market in the next few years, but severe tinnitus just beats you down so hard I know why he thought there was no other way out.

If he had known about Frequency Therapeutics, he may have waited. It's a shame that if he had consulted with ENT specialists that keep up to date with research such as Frequency Therapeutics and Otonomy he may be still alive today.

 

[TheDanishGirl]

Actually we do. Neuromod's Lenire may not work for everyone but it does work for most - to varying degrees - and even if it only lowers the tinnitus, that's substantial and real. Dr. Shore's device will be here in a year or two most likely. Meds like FX-322 and some other stuff are in the pipeline. And there's most likely other stuff in the works we have not heard of yet. The World Tinnitus Congress has been an annual thing now since 2017? Yes, help can't come fast enough but it's really starting to come.

I have pain hyperacusis and nothing is certain to help that. Lenire is out of the question for me, because I have this kind of hyperacusis. Headphones are no-go. 95-98% of sound gives me pain at this point.

 

[DaveFromChicago]

To BuzzyBee:

Given your range of questions, very astute consideration of the unknowable, amazing variety of responses different people have to similar phenomena (which even contemporary Psychiatry has no explanation for.)

"Why do some of us fight it and others just give in?"

As I have posted before, this reminds me of a story told by a man of the WWII generation who was in the Army. He said there were guys who were super macho, fearless in combat, and resembled Burt Lancaster in "From Here to Eternity." But when it came time to line up for inoculations, they passed out at the sight of a needle.

Throughout my life I have noticed that various traumas (such as being told that a relationship is over, getting divorced or fired, being diagnosed with cancer etc.) affect certain people not at all and utterly, permanently devastate others.

This only indicates how unique each of us is in our responses to the the endlessly myriad experiences inherent in the Human Condition.

Given the cumulatively destructive, intrusive nature of this condition, none of us has the right to be judgmental about such a decision as was taken.

 

[Jack Straw]

Really sad. I feel terrible for his family.

I wonder if he already had tinnitus and COVID-19 exacerbated it or if it was straight to severe tinnitus. I guess it doesn't matter ultimately and is still tragic.

 

[Lane]

Can covid make your ears ring? What we know about its possible connection to tinnitus.

From the article--which touches on Kent Taylor committing suicide (the last paragraph is a bit infuriating):

The condition is "one of those things that is just so variable in every single person," said Eldré Beukes, an audiologist and research fellow at Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom, who has published research on how individuals with tinnitus have been affected by the pandemic.

In the United States, more than 50 million people experience some form of tinnitus, which is often linked to hearing loss. About 20 million struggle with a chronic condition, while 2 million have extreme and debilitating cases, according to the American Tinnitus Association.

"There are at least 200 reasons" why people may develop tinnitus or feel like their existing condition is worsening, Beukes said, including factors related to hearing damage as well as stress and mental health conditions. "Some people do just get tinnitus that's seemingly out of the blue."

Beukes and other experts say it's critical for people with tinnitus to understand the condition and be aware that there are a variety of evidence-based treatments that can provide relief. People should "not accept that their quality of life has to go down because they have tinnitus," Beukes said. "There is hope and there are things that they can do to live the life they want to live."​

 

[dan]

Can covid make your ears ring? What we know about its possible connection to tinnitus.

From the article--which touches on Kent Taylor committing suicide (the last paragraph is a bit infuriating):

The condition is "one of those things that is just so variable in every single person," said Eldré Beukes, an audiologist and research fellow at Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom, who has published research on how individuals with tinnitus have been affected by the pandemic.

In the United States, more than 50 million people experience some form of tinnitus, which is often linked to hearing loss. About 20 million struggle with a chronic condition, while 2 million have extreme and debilitating cases, according to the American Tinnitus Association.

"There are at least 200 reasons" why people may develop tinnitus or feel like their existing condition is worsening, Beukes said, including factors related to hearing damage as well as stress and mental health conditions. "Some people do just get tinnitus that's seemingly out of the blue."

Beukes and other experts say it's critical for people with tinnitus to understand the condition and be aware that there are a variety of evidence-based treatments that can provide relief. People should "not accept that their quality of life has to go down because they have tinnitus," Beukes said. "There is hope and there are things that they can do to live the life they want to live."​

Audiologists ought to be burned at the stake for spreading tinnitus misinformation.

 

[dan]

Wow... this just breaks my heart... I don't really know what to say. I wish he could have held out for a bit longer for some of the drugs that are hitting market in the next few years, but severe tinnitus just beats you down so hard I know why he thought there was no other way out.

Man you guys talk like there is a current tinnitus drug that passed a Phase 3 trial with flying colors...

At most right now we have is what a questionable Frequency Therapeutics FX-322 failed trial with tinnitus only as on off label - at the remote chance it passes to market.

 

[HootOwl]

Man you guys talk like there is a current tinnitus drug that passed a Phase 3 trial with flying colors...

At most right now we have is what a questionable Frequency Therapeutics FX-322 failed trial with tinnitus only as on off label - at the remote chance it passes to market.

Eh? I'm confused about this, not sure why I gave you this impression. I was only speaking from my own experience that waiting for a HL drug to hit market (in any form) is what helps keep me going. This shit is unfathomably hard to deal with.

As for FX-322 I posted this before their Phase 2a readout when the data showed they were likely aiming for a 2023/2024 release.

If you read my posts you'd see that I've always been conservative on what specific form of tinnitus FX-322 would treat, and that even if the drug worked for someone like me, it would likely only help one tone of my very severe multi-tone t.

And even that was more of a "I really hope so" kind of thing, because diagnostics being as crude as they are means I was hoping that the drug which treats OHC/IHC - and was projected to hit market first - meant that my structural damage was OHC/IHC and not isolated synaptopathy.

But for someone with a single HF "eeeee" above 10 kHz the likelihood of success with FX-322 is probably higher. But I don't know what frequency this man had t at. It could be his was a very loud, low dial tone (such as myself), in which case the first form of the drug would have done very little, if nothing at all.

I won't go too much into the science and weeds here on this thread, because that's not what this is about. If you want to discuss the nitty gritty of the Phase 2a results, I think we should do that in the appropriate thread.

But I hope that clarifies where my head was at when I posted that.

 

[HootOwl]

The condition is "one of those things that is just so variable in every single person,"

This is darkly hilarious to me because it's like they never stop and think "hm, maybe it's so variable, because I don't know, maybe some have very loud and unmaskable tinnitus. And those people suffer more than the "oh I turn on a fan and I'm fine" people. What a strange hypothesis right?"

As someone who went from mild, to moderate, to finally severe, the difference is quite literally the difference between a relatively normal life and wanting to die every single day.

 

[Gbelle54]

In the New York Times today:

Some Covid-19 Patients Say They're Left With Ringing Ears

 

[Luman]

We do not have a cure. There are therapies, such as CBT, that can help some people, even if they are suicidal, in the meantime while waiting for a cure.

 

[just1morething]

I won't go too much into the science and weeds here on this thread, because that's not what this is about. If you want to discuss the nitty gritty of the Phase 2a results, I think we should do that in the appropriate thread.

I don't think it pays because it bombed. Kind of a wasted effort IMO. You can't revive a dead horse. Maybe something will change for the better in the future though. The stock price will reflect any improvements made to the formula, delivery, etc.

 

[Ken219]

Audiologists ought to be burned at the stake for spreading tinnitus misinformation.

Dan, why do you say bad things about audiologists?

I have been surviving and living with tinnitus for 30 years. Yes I've had setbacks and suicidal thoughts, but always habituated. It is a long journey (12-18 months) but I do habituate and live a better life. I pray every day for new treatments or a cure.

Dan, the worst doctors are the ones that say learn to live with it or worse, not warn you about exposure to loud noise. In 1989 there was no internet. I had a slight ringing, I went to an ENT, he examined me and said all looks good. Never giving me warnings about ototoxic medications, or how exposure to loud noise could make it worse. In 1989 was before 'internet'. I assumed it is an aging process. Next year, with full blown tinnitus, I went to the Library. There where three books about ringing in the ears (tinnitus). There it was in black and white, 'exposure to loud noise'! I wrote the doctor that exposure to loud noise is the most common cause of tinnitus and he should explain all reasons and give the patient a set of earplugs. These doctors are bad. He had no empathy. He is known as the skirt chaser at LIJ hospital.

 

[Ken219]

I don't think it pays because it bombed. Kind of a wasted effort IMO. You can't revive a dead horse. Maybe something will change for the better in the future though. The stock price will reflect any improvements made to the formula, delivery, etc.

Don't go by the 'stock' price unless you are an investor. I've seen companies cook the books making it appear the company is thriving. Many companies have done this!

 

[Johan001]

I've read that he got COVID-19 in November and that's when the ringing started.

Basically it took him 4 months to get to the point of doing the unthinkable.

I got tinnitus in late May and my last suicide attempt was in the beginning of October, similar timeline. Now I'm not suicidal anymore despite daily suffering.

I really think he should have waited a bit to get over the acute stage. Most suicide cases known from the press (such as Robert McIndoe, Glenn Mitchell, Daniel Derricutt) were in the acute stage (up to 6 months).

This kind of confirms: don't pull the plug in the early months of tinnitus, no matter how hard it may be. Speaking from my personal experience.

 

[ajc]

I've read that he got COVID-19 in November and that's when the ringing started.

Basically it took him 4 months to get to the point of doing the unthinkable.

The WSJ Obituary also said that he had had only 2 hours of sleep per night for many weeks.

He should have been tranquilized, hard. But hindsight 20/20.

RIP.

 

[Johan001]

Yeah, I've had this as well with sleep. 2 hours of superficial sleep with constant adrenaline shocks and panic attacks. From the beginning of June to October/November. Nothing worked for me though: Benzos, Mirtazapine, Quetiapine, Zopiclone, Melatonin.

I really emphasize with him, totally understand the situation.

 

[Dizzyhead888]

Tinnitus Talk should reach out to his family and invite them to donate for tinnitus research. With their capital and their loss, they would be likely to happily donate.

It's human tendency to possibly react in certain energy to fix the solution that made them lose their loved ones. Such as someone losing their mother to breast cancer and going on awareness campaigns or similar efforts to battle the evil that took their loved ones.

 

[VICKI HERRMANN]

He probably didn't know there are potential treatments coming. He probably thought there was no way out after an expensive ENT told him to get used to it.

That's exactly what I just got told by my ENT and I feel so lost at the moment. Pulsatile tinnitus is full on in my head and I have been praying for God to take me if it's never going away as it's destroying my family life too. Lack of sleep is making my life hell.

So I am not shocked at his suicide decision. For me, I prefer to go to mental hospital or something.

 

[CDNThailand]

Damn... all that money he had, and couldn't wait a little bit for FX-322 and other treatments...

From the article it looks like his tinnitus became severe only in the recent days. I wish he could have postponed the suicide. But sometimes it doesn't work like that. A sudden increase in tinnitus levels can mean sleepless nights, debilitating anxiety and an urgent need to exit. The mind might not be thinking rationally at all.

Fuck you tinnitus for taking yet another life. Tonight I will be thinking of his children and grandchildren.

RIP KENT

Isn't FX-322 for hearing loss only? "Severe Sensorineural Hearing Loss."

 

[SD7]

I'd like to add an addendum to this story.

In a wonderful article by Fortune here:

The founder and CEO of Texas Roadhouse caught COVID. 4 months later, he committed suicide. Family and colleagues detail his final days and legacy

I have found 5 interesting things that were not present in the original narrative.

1. Kent Taylor got severe tinnitus from a mild case of COVID-19. Do not underestimate this disease. Even in the mild case long COVID-19 symptoms have the potential to be life changing. It's not just the flu and never has been.

2. He did seek out treatment at every possible avenue. At one point he even donated $500k to Hubert Lim's research.

3. Perhaps most interesting, he went to Ireland for an "experimental treatment" (Lenire/Specialized Lenire/Something Else). It is not explicitly stated, however, it is stated that he had improvement in one of his ears almost immediately.

4. Well given that he was in high spirits after this treatment, what happened, in mid March, he got his COVID-19 vaccine and his tinnitus again returned to catastrophic levels and he killed himself shortly thereafter.

5. He was a good person and lived an incredible life. There are beautiful anecdotes of self-sacrifice and humbleness in the article.

In a better world humans wouldn't have these or the other myriad of illnesses that make life truly awful.

RIP.

 

[volsung37]

I'd like to add an addendum to this story.

In a wonderful article by Fortune here:

The founder and CEO of Texas Roadhouse caught COVID. 4 months later, he committed suicide. Family and colleagues detail his final days and legacy

I have found 5 interesting things that were not present in the original narrative.

1. Kent Taylor got severe tinnitus from a mild case of COVID-19. Do not underestimate this disease. Even in the mild case long COVID-19 symptoms have the potential to be life changing. It's not just the flu and never has been.

2. He did seek out treatment at every possible avenue. At one point he even donated $500k to Hubert Lim's research.

3. Perhaps most interesting, he went to Ireland for an "experimental treatment" (Lenire/Specialized Lenire/Something Else). It is not explicitly stated, however, it is stated that he had improvement in one of his ears almost immediately.

4. Well given that he was in high spirits after this treatment, what happened, in mid March, he got his COVID-19 vaccine and his tinnitus again returned to catastrophic levels and he killed himself shortly thereafter.

5. He was a good person and lived an incredible life. There are beautiful anecdotes of self-sacrifice and humbleness in the article.

In a better world humans wouldn't have these or the other myriad of illnesses that make life truly awful.

RIP.

Interesting. Very sad to hear of his suffering.

There are parallels with my own journey. I had recovered almost completely from both pulsatile and 'ordinary' tinnitus and had lived over 3 years in silence.

The Pfizer jab ended that last year. Now back with pulsatile and tonal tinnitus.

Surely someone should research exactly what these jabs do to the auditory system.

 

[ZFire]

I'd like to add an addendum to this story.

In a wonderful article by Fortune here:

The founder and CEO of Texas Roadhouse caught COVID. 4 months later, he committed suicide. Family and colleagues detail his final days and legacy

I have found 5 interesting things that were not present in the original narrative.

1. Kent Taylor got severe tinnitus from a mild case of COVID-19. Do not underestimate this disease. Even in the mild case long COVID-19 symptoms have the potential to be life changing. It's not just the flu and never has been.

2. He did seek out treatment at every possible avenue. At one point he even donated $500k to Hubert Lim's research.

3. Perhaps most interesting, he went to Ireland for an "experimental treatment" (Lenire/Specialized Lenire/Something Else). It is not explicitly stated, however, it is stated that he had improvement in one of his ears almost immediately.

4. Well given that he was in high spirits after this treatment, what happened, in mid March, he got his COVID-19 vaccine and his tinnitus again returned to catastrophic levels and he killed himself shortly thereafter.

5. He was a good person and lived an incredible life. There are beautiful anecdotes of self-sacrifice and humbleness in the article.

In a better world humans wouldn't have these or the other myriad of illnesses that make life truly awful.

RIP.

Wow, so he was actually feeling much better after some treatment, but the vaccine gave him a major setback afterwords... I knew there was more to his tragic story. The original narrative did not really go into much detail if I recalled and felt like we were given a surface level understanding of his circumstance. All we knew was that he suffered from post COVID-19 symptoms and severe tinnitus was one of them. The articles back then never specified what the other long COVID-19 symptoms were, so it was implied that there may have been other factors that also led to his suicide. I'm not sure whether this article mentions anything in regards to this (paywall). Regardless, I think most here will say the tinnitus was the main culprit and this new info pretty much confirms that.

Since the article you posted is a paywall, I have one question for clarity sake. Did COVID-19 just straight up give him severe tinnitus from the get-go or did he already have a pre existing tinnitus prior to COVID-19? I initially thought he already had some form of tinnitus, but COVID-19 exacerbated into extreme levels. The reason why I suspected this was due to the fact that he is after all, the founder and CEO of the Texas Roadhouse steakhouse chain, a place that's notorious for being extremely loud. Mr. Taylor even saying "we are proud to be loud". I'd imagine as the owner of these chains, he would need to make frequent visits to his locations (since 1993) and the constant loud noise exposure didn't do him any favors.

I guess it doesn't really matter in the end since we lost him, but I'm curious in finding out the pathologies. He was definitely a good dude. I remember reading during the lockdowns, he chose to forgo his 1 year salary to pay his workers. I wished he would have held out a little longer since he was still in the acute stage despite the significant setback. It was just too much to bear I'd imagine...

RIP.

 

[SD7]

Sorry I'm a subscriber and didn't realize it was behind a paywall. I will source the above and your questions with screenshots.

Wow, so he was actually feeling much better after some treatment, but the vaccine gave him a major setback afterwords...

Yes this is points 3 and 4.

Point 2:

Point 1 and to answer your question it does not seem he had tinnitus prior but I think it's fair to say that the restaurant industry is quite loud. Someone on Hyperacusis Research tried to make the same argument as you.

I guess it doesn't really matter in the end since we lost him, but I'm curious in finding out the pathologies. He was definitely a good dude. I remember reading during the lockdowns, he chose to forgo his 1 year salary to pay his workers. I wished he would have held out a little longer since he was still in the acute stage despite the significant setback. It was just too much to bear I'd imagine...

RIP.

Also true and moreover he tried to keep it a secret and point 5:

 

[Stayinghopeful]

Wow, so much more to the story than most people thought. Very sad.