Add Category
Posted
Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher died from sleep apnoea and a combination of other factors, and had taken multiple drugs, but officials say they cannot conclusively determine what caused her death.
Key points:
- Carrie Fisher's family says it's "no news" that she took drugs
- The coroner's office can't say if drugs contributed to her death
- The family says doctors who gave her medication were "doing their best to cure a mental disorder"
Among the factors that contributed to Fisher's death was a build-up of fatty tissue in the walls of her arteries, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said in a statement.
It said the actress, who found enduring fame as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars films, had taken several drugs prior to her death, but investigators could not determine whether they contributed to it.
Fisher, who suffered a medical emergency on December 23 on a flight from London, died on December 27 at the age of 60.
Her mother, longtime movie star Debbie Reynolds, died the next day at age 84 after being briefly hospitalised.
Star had long battle with mental illness
Fisher's brother Todd Fisher said he was not surprised by the results.
He said his family did not want a coroner's investigation into his sister's death.
"We're not enlightened. There's nothing about this that is enlightening," he said.
"I would tell you, from my perspective that there's certainly no news that Carrie did drugs."
He said his sister wrote about her drug use frequently, and many of the drugs she took were prescribed by doctors to treat her mental health conditions.
"I am not shocked that part of her health was affected by drugs," he said.
Fisher had long battled drug addiction and mental illness.
She said she smoked marijuana at 13, used LSD by 21 and was diagnosed as having bipolar disorder at 24.
She was treated with electroshock therapy and medication.
Doctors who prescribed drugs 'trying to help'
Todd Fisher said his sister's heart condition was probably worsened by her smoking habit, as well as the medications she took.
"If you want to know what killed her, it's all of it," he said.
He said it was difficult to blame doctors who treated his sister, because they were trying to help her.
"They were doing their best to cure a mental disorder. Can you really blame them?" he said.
"Without her drugs, maybe she would have left long ago."
Fisher made her feature film debut opposite Warren Beatty in the 1975 hit Shampoo. As well as the Star Wars films, she appeared in Austin Powers, The Blues Brothers, Charlie's Angels, Hannah and Her Sisters, Scream 3 and When Harry Met Sally.
AP
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, death, actor, health, united-states