Actress death accidental

Saturday, February 06, 2010

ACTRESS Brittany Murphy’s death in December was accidental and the result of pneumonia, anaemia and "multiple drug intoxication", the Los Angeles Coroner’s office said.

Murphy, 32, the co-star of movies Clueless and 8 Mile, suffered a cardiac arrest on December 20 in the bathroom of her Hollywood Hills home.

The coroner’s office said the drugs found in her body were a mixture of prescription and over-the- counter medications. No illegal drugs were found.

The full autopsy report will be issued in about two weeks.

Murphy’s husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, had said that the actress had been suffering from laryngitis. Media speculation had focused on a possible eating disorder and rumours of cocaine use – both of which she had denied years ago.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, February 06, 2010