Over the weekend, the coroner’s report detailing possible causes of death for Carrie Fisher was released. The report found that “sleep apnea and other undetermined factors” caused the death of the iconic “Star Wars” actress. The coroner’s report also found that atherosclerotic heart disease, which is fatty tissue in the walls of arteries, also contributed to Fisher’s death. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office revealed the complete report with the full autopsy, including toxicology, on Monday. It was unveiled that Fisher had a variety of drugs including cocaine and heroin in her system when she died on December 27.
The toxicology reports stated that Fisher had cocaine, morphine, codeine, and oxycodone in her system when she was hospitalized after suffering a massive heart attack on board a flight from London to Los Angeles on December 23. The report also revealed that the 60-year-old actress had a “remote exposure to MDMA.” Doctors found traces of the variety of drugs in Fisher’s blood samples and tissue samples. “The exposure to cocaine took place sometime approximately in the last 72 hours of the sample that was obtained,” stated the report.
The report clearly stated that it was unclear how much of a role, if any, the drugs played in Fisher’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.”
Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Sleep Disorders Center, hints that Fisher’s sleep apnea, combined with her history of drug use, worsened the situation and made it more difficult for her to recover from the massive heart attack. Sleep apnea affects 9 percent of women and 24 percent of men, but most people are unaware that they have the potentially deadly and chronic condition since it only happens when they are asleep. If left untreated, sleep apnea can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, obesity, and diabetes, according to the NIH.
“My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life,” Fisher’s only child, Billie Lourd, told PEOPLE magazine. “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,” Lourd said. “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.”
[TMZ]