Actress Brittany
Murphy died from pneumonia, but anemia and prescription drugs also
played a role, Los Angeles County coroner's officials said Thursday. The
primary cause of death was community-acquired pneumonia, with
contributing factors of iron deficiency anemia and "multiple drug
intoxication," according to the coroner's office. The death was ruled accidental.
Murphy's
widower, Simon Monjack, previously told US magazine that his wife took
the painkiller Vicoprofen and Fluoxetine, an antidepressant to treat
menstrual cramps, as well as over-the-counter Robitussin for her last
illness. Dr. Michael Baden, former
chief medical examiner in New York City, said the coroner's
determination indicated drugs probably played a key role in Murphy's
death. "It sounds more like it's a
drug-related than a natural pulmonary pneumonia," said Baden, who did
not work on the Murphy case but has served as an expert witness in
numerous high-profile deaths. "One doesn't die of pneumonia, usually,
that quickly."
For more, see mercurynews.com.
