According to a toxicology report from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, Carrie Fisher had heroin, methadone and other drugs in her system when she died suddenly at age 60 in 2016.
“The exposure to cocaine took place sometime approximately in the last 72 hours of the sample that was obtained,” the report read, which also revealed Carrie had a “remote exposure to MDMA” (commonly known as ecstasy). In addition to the illegal drugs, Carrie was taking Abilify, Lamictal and Prozac under prescription.
Carrie, who is also the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, had a history of bipolar disorder and a long history of drug use. At the time of her death, she was taking oxycodone without a prescription, prior to the report. A CT scan showed “skeletal degenerative arthritis and sponylosis, mild diffuse cerebral atrophy and mild cardiomegaly with sites of coronary artery calcification.”
A coroner’s report on Friday listed sleep apnea as Carrie’s primary cause of death, with drug intake as a contributing factor. The report stated that the Star Wars star’s family objected to a full autopsy, and the coroner’s investigators had access to limited toxicology specimens. The conclusions were based on toxicology results and an external examination of the actress’ body.
Carrie died on Dec. 27, 2016, four days after going into cardiac arrest on an airplane. Though she had multiple drugs in her system, it is uncertain if drugs were the cause of Carrie’s death.
“Based on the available toxicological information, we cannot establish the significance of the multiple substances that were detected in Ms. Fisher’s blood and tissue, with regard to the cause of death,” the report stated. On Friday, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office reported she had suffered from atherosclerotic heart disease and “drug use.” Ultimately, the coroner said, “The manner of death has been ruled undetermined.”
Carrie’s sole daughter, Billie Lourd, addressed the report last week. “My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases. She talked about the shame that torments people and their families confronted by these diseases,” the 24-year-old Scream Queens actress told People in an exclusive statement Friday.
“I know my Mom. She’d want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles. Seek help, fight for government funding for mental health programs. Shame and those social stigmas are the enemies of progress to solutions and ultimately a cure. Love you, Momby.”
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