After about half-a-year, the result of Carrie Fisher's autopsy has been publicized. Fisher, a pop culture icon who was popularized in the original Star Wars trilogy, died last December. On Monday, a report from the Los Angeles County coroner declared that drugs were involved in the actress' death.
A cocktail of drugs — including heroin, cocaine, ecstasy
Carrie Fisher experienced cardiac arrest while she was on a flight that was bound for Los Angeles. Officials on the plane tried to revive her for a full 90 minutes, but on that fateful December 27 morning, just before 9 am, the actress was declared dead.
Unbeknownst to many, Fisher was rushed to the Ronald Reagan UCLA hospital four days before that plane incident (Dec. 23). There was a toxicology report from the said hospital that showed a cocktail of drugs present in the actress' system. The report revealed that the mixture of drugs included MDMA (aka ecstasy), methadone, cocaine, opiates, and alcohol.
The autopsy was conclusive regarding the cocaine, saying that it had been consumed sometime within the 72 hours before the incident. The results of some tests show that Fisher was also exposed to heroin, but the exact dosage and the time it was introduced into her system cannot be pinpointed, so the coroners cannot determine the "significance" of heroin in her death.
Carrie Fisher's family 'not surprised' of her drug abuse
Sleep apnea was listed as the primary cause of Fisher's death, but with there also were other contributing factors, including atherosclerotic heart disease and her use of drugs. It has been confirmed that sleep apnea could be worsened by a contributing Drug Abuse, even leading to fatal results like this one.
According to the LA Times, all of these results were determined via CT scans of the actress' body — the family requested for the doctors not to dissect Fisher's remains.
Fisher's family does not seem at all surprised of the listed causes; in fact, they even acknowledged it. In a statement to People Magazine, Billie Lourd, Fisher's daughter, said that her mother's "entire life" was about battling drug addiction and mental illness.
Todd Fisher, Carrie's brother, responded to the autopsy report in a similar manner. He said that through the years, Carrie put her health in jeopardy "slowly but surely."
“I honestly hoped we would grow old together, but after her death, nobody was shocked,” Todd Fisher said.
