Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills, painkillers and a combination of other prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner has ruled.
Spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement today (February 6) that the actor’s death was caused by “acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine.”
The listed drugs are better known as painkillers OxyContin and Hydrocodone, anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and sleeping pills Restoril and Unisom.
Borakove commented: “What you’re looking at here is the cumulative effects of these medications together. However it hasn’t been made public about how much of each drug was found in Ledger’s system.
Ledger’s publicist, his father, Kim, reacted to the ruling by saying “While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath’s accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage.”
The results announced today, come two weeks after the actor was found at his New York apartment, with police finding six different types of prescription drugs in his apartment.
Read Uncut’s Heath Ledger obituary here.