Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released
Coroner: Ex-Playmate died from accidental sedative overdose
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Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released
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Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released -
Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released -
Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released -
Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released -
Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released -
Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released -
Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released -
Anna Nicole Smith Autopsy Released
MARCH 26--Anna Nicole Smith died from an accidental overdose of a powerful sedative that became lethal when mixed with nine other prescription drugs found in her system, according to a coroner's report released this morning.
The combined toxicity of the sleeping medication, chloral hydrate, and the other drugs (including Valium, Klonopin, and Ativan) resulted in the 39-year-old Smith's death, concluded Dr. Joshua Perper, the Broward County medical examiner. A copy of the coroner's report can be found here.
The medical examiner's investigation also found that "contributory causes" in Smith's death were a viral flu and an abscess that had developed on her buttock as a result of injections.
Perper noted that the level of chloral hydrate--which is often used to combat insomnia and slows respiration--found in Smith's system was not, in itself, lethal. But combined with the other drugs, which were found at "therapeutic levels," the chloral hydrate proved deadly.
On February 8, Smith was found dead at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Despite news accounts of Smith's abuse of an array of narcotics, toxicology tests revealed that she did not have methadone or other opiates in her system at the time of her death. (8 pages)
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