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Carrie Fisher Died Of Sleep Apnea And 'Other Factors' According To Coroner
Carrie Fisher at "The Force Awakens" red carpet in 2015. (Photo via Getty Images)
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Carrie Fisher died of sleep apnea and other factors, including drug use, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said Friday. Investigators were unable to pinpoint an official cause of death, stating "the manner of death has been ruled undetermined," according to the L.A. Times. She died after suffering a massive heart attack on December 23 and died on December 27. Her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, died of a stroke the next day.
The coroner's office discovered walls of fatty tissue build-up along Fisher's arterial walls, according to the Associated Press. Signs of taking multiple drugs were also present, but a full autopsy and toxicology report were not readily available. The coroner's office will likely provide a more detailed report on Monday, according to the L.A. Times.
Todd Fisher, Carrie Fisher's brother, was unfazed by the news, telling AP that "I would tell you, from my perspective that there’s certainly no news that Carrie did drugs." During her life, Fisher was open about her recreational drug use as well as her experience battling bipolar disorder. Todd specified that many of the drugs were present to treat her mental illness, adding, “[w]ithout her drugs, maybe she would have left long ago.”
Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher's only daughter, told People her "mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases."
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Carrie Fisher was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park and shares a headstone with her mother.
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