OT-Ledger's death ruled accidental

[Angiekay]

(CNN) -- Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription medications including painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills, the New York City medical examiner's office said Tuesday.


Actor Heath Ledger, 28, died January 22 at an apartment in Lower Manhattan.

more photos » "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," the office said in a short statement.

"We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications."

Hydrocodone and oxycodone are painkillers. Diazepam is an anti-anxiety drug commonly sold under the brand name Valium; alprazolam is also an anti-anxiety drug, sold under such names as Xanax. Temazepam, sold under such names as Restoril and Euhypnos, is a sleeping agent, as is doxylamine.

Ledger died January 22 at an apartment in Lower Manhattan. The Oscar-nominated Australian actor, best known for his role as a stoic, closeted cowboy in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain," was 28.

An autopsy done on the actor January 23 was inconclusive. Interactive: A look back at Heath Ledger's life »

In a statement released through Ledger's publicist, Ledger's father, Kim, said Wednesday: "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."

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"Families rarely experience the uplifting, warm and massive outpouring of grief and support as have we, from every corner of the planet," his family added in the statement. "This has deeply and profoundly touched our hearts and lives. We are eternally grateful."

Ledger's family returned to Perth, Australia, Tuesday for the actor's funeral, according to The Associated Press. Arrangements were private.

Ledger had talked about his difficulty sleeping after back-to-back roles as a Bob Dylan persona in "I'm Not There" and the Joker in "The Dark Knight," the latter of which is due out this summer.

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times in November. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."

In the hours leading up to Ledger's death two weeks ago, a housekeeper, identified as Teresa Solomon, arrived at the apartment about 12:30 p.m., a police source with knowledge of the investigation said.

She saw Ledger lying on a bed face down with a sheet pulled up around his shoulders and heard him snoring, the source said.

Masseuse Diana Wolozin arrived at the apartment about 2:45 p.m. to give Ledger a massage, according to the police source. About 15 minutes later, when he had not come out of the bedroom and the door remained closed, she went in, saw him lying in bed and set up a massage table.

She shook Ledger, but he did not respond, so she used his cell phone to call actress Mary-Kate Olsen, a friend of Ledger's, in California, the source said.

Wolozin told Olsen that Ledger was unconscious, according to the police source.

Olsen reportedly told her that she would call private security people in New York.

At 3:26 p.m., Wolozin called 911 and told authorities Ledger was not breathing. While on the phone with dispatchers, Wolozin tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Ledger, but he was unresponsive.

Emergency personnel arrived seven minutes later, according to the police source, at about the same time as a private security person summoned by Olsen.

The medical technicians performed CPR on Ledger and used a cardiac defibrillator, but their efforts were in vain and he was pronounced dead at 3:36 p.m. By then, two other private security people summoned by Olsen had arrived as well as police.

His former fiancée, actress Michelle Williams, has asked the public to respect the need for her, the couple's 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, and others "to grieve privately."

"My heart is broken," Williams said in a statement issued last week via her publicist. "I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day. His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time, and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up in the best memories of him."

Condolences poured in from Ledger's friends and co-stars.

"He was a wonderful guy, he was a wonderful actor, he had a wonderful future ahead of him, and I liked him," said actor Eric Roberts, who worked with Ledger in "The Dark Knight," the latest installment in the "Batman" series set to open in July.

Colleagues on Terry Gilliam's film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which Ledger had been shooting in England, said the actor apparently had been suffering from a respiratory ailment in the days before he died.

Christopher Plummer told Entertainment Weekly that Ledger had a "terrible, lingering bug in London, and he couldn't sleep at all. We all -- I thought he'd probably got walking pneumonia."


Ledger's first American film was the teen comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" in 1999. He passed up several scripts before taking a role in the Revolutionary War drama "The Patriot" in 2000 and "A Knight's Tale" in 2001. He also played a supporting role in "Monster's Ball."

But Ledger was perhaps best known for his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain," Ang Lee's film about two cowboys who had a secret romantic relationship. The role earned Ledger a best actor Oscar nomination

[Rip Rokken]

"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," the office said in a short statement.

Another good reason to stay away from all that crap. There are some very bad doctors out there who are in the pockets of the drug companies.

[Deb]

"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," the office said in a short statement.

Another good reason to stay away from all that crap. There are some very bad doctors out there who are in the pockets of the drug companies.

True. Good to know it was accidental. May he RIP.

[larryfromnextdoor]

he sure accidentally took alot of crap... wow..

[STORY_TELLER]

It's a horrible thing that happened. His child and family... horrible loss for them.

RIP Heath.

[bluejeangirl76]

he sure accidentally took alot of crap... wow..

I know. Who the hell is prescribing so many different things to one person?
I at least hope its a situation where he got different docs to give him different things.
Otherwise that doc needs his license pulled. Jesus H!

[Lady Luck]

"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine"

Holy crap

[Angiekay]

"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine"

Holy crap

No kidding. I say if you can't pronounce it, don't take it!!

[Journey69]

I'm thinking the guy was desperate to sleep..I know the feeling,I've been having trouble for about a year..But,doesn't common sense tell you that taking about 3 or 4 diff kinds at once might hurt you? Most 28 yr olds don't think about dying as much as having fun.. When you were 28,how often did you think you were mortal? Most feel like they are invincible..

[KCfla]

he sure accidentally took alot of crap... wow..

I know. Who the hell is prescribing so many different things to one person?
I at least hope its a situation where he got different docs to give him different things.
Otherwise that doc needs his license pulled. Jesus H!

Or where the hell was the pharmacist that filled them? We catch this shit all the time- and no- not just from drug addicts. Elderly patients that get 2 of the same/similar drugs from different drs. that either don't know or miss that in the patients' chart.

He had to have more than one dr- AND filled them at different pharmacys. With the technology we have now- someone should have caught this!

Sad- anyway you look at it though...

[FishinMagician]

he sure accidentally took alot of crap... wow..

exactley. its probably that his family doesnt want people to think he killed himself. its all political

[Rip Rokken]

I know. Who the hell is prescribing so many different things to one person?
I at least hope its a situation where he got different docs to give him different things.
Otherwise that doc needs his license pulled. Jesus H!

Could be doctor shopping, but there certainly are doctors who would prescribe them all -- maybe not all at the same time, but over time, yes. I knew one personally who would do that, despite several pleas from the patient's family about the harm they were causing. I called him "Dr. Feelgood", and he deserved it. He ended up getting turned in to the state Medical Board and reprimanded.

RIP, Heath...

[7 Wishes]

I have a member of my family who was a doctor shopper. Not so easily stopped if people who have money pay out of pocket.

[Ms_M]

he sure accidentally took alot of crap... wow..

I thought about this, too... I wonder how far apart he took all of that stuff. Did he take the Oxycontin and not feel it was working, so he took something else? That would seem accidental - taking all 6 of those things at once - not so much. I am not trying to insinuate anything about Ledger, just wondering about OD stuff in general.

[X factor]

he sure accidentally took alot of crap... wow..

Yep...Instead of owning up to a mistake or a ridiculously large lapse in judgement, the position has now become a message of social awareness. "Be careful, everyone. We've just now discovered that if you take oxycodon, hydrocodone, vicodin, valium, xanax, restoril, and unisom at the same time, it could prove hazardous to your health. It's tragic that we had to learn it this way, but at least now we know. So just say "no" to taking seven redundant prescription drugs at one time, and stay in school, kids." It's just kind of insulting, isn't it?

[msmercury01]

It doesn't matter how or why. It's sad because we have lost a very talented actor. A woman has lost her love, a child has lost her father, parents have lost their son, people have lost their friend. Nothing can change that.

[Shadowsong]

he sure accidentally took alot of crap... wow..

exactley. its probably that his family doesnt want people to think he killed himself. its all political

Nope he didn't kill himself
just swallowed everything but the kitchen sink.
Guess they can cash in on an insurance policy

Sounds like he took enough drugs to down an elephant.
What the hell is he doing with oxycotine?
Least they worked
He's sleeping real goood now!

I really have no sympathy for the terminally dumb.
Least he didn't do it & roll over on his child & suffocate them to death.

Goodness...good thing no one else was hurt.

Sorry for those that loved & depended on him
but maybe they are better without him.


Sad but I hold him accountable.

[msmercury01]

he sure accidentally took alot of crap... wow..

exactley. its probably that his family doesnt want people to think he killed himself. its all political

Nope he didn't kill himself
just swallowed everything but the kitchen sink.
Guess they can cash in on an insurance policy

Sounds like he took enough drugs to down an elephant.
What the hell is he doing with oxycotine?
Least they worked
He's sleeping real goood now!

I really have no sympathy for the terminally dumb.
Least he didn't do it & roll over on his child & suffocate them to death.

Goodness...good thing no one else was hurt.

Sorry for those that loved & depended on him
but maybe they are better without him.


Sad but I hold him accountable.

I'd hate to see how callous you are if it was someone you loved and cared about who did the same thing.

[Shadowsong]

he sure accidentally took alot of crap... wow..

exactley. its probably that his family doesnt want people to think he killed himself. its all political

Nope he didn't kill himself
just swallowed everything but the kitchen sink.
Guess they can cash in on an insurance policy

Sounds like he took enough drugs to down an elephant.
What the hell is he doing with oxycotine?
Least they worked
He's sleeping real goood now!

I really have no sympathy for the terminally dumb.
Least he didn't do it & roll over on his child & suffocate them to death.

Goodness...good thing no one else was hurt.

Sorry for those that loved & depended on him
but maybe they are better without him.


Sad but I hold him accountable.

I'd hate to see how callous you are if it was someone you loved and cared about who did the same thing.

Seventh level of hell?
Interesting.
How are the soles of your feet?

Been there!
You don't ever want to know the thiings I have been through.

I am callous when it comes to drugs.
My brother died in 94 at the age of 30 as a result of drugs!
How many times have you wondered
when you woke up if you would find a loved one dead?
How many times have you pondered whether
the alcohol & pills they took would take them in the night.
How many times would you like to hear that they see the devil?

Yea, well that can make you callous.
The years go by but you are never the same
The wound is always there
forever changing your life & the way you think about it

A callous is a form of protection...
As they say
do not judge a person
unless you have walked in there shoes.
I know drugs can be a demon possesion.
I hate them & what they do to people
but the fact still is
the pill doesn't jump in your mouth by itself.


I had sympathy
but I also still have anger
I feel it is very callous of loved ones
to not take there life seriously or take responsibility for there actions & throw it away hurting those left behind to grieve.

I understand & I can forgive but it's still a
STUPID waste of life!

I do feel for the family though.
As I said
Been there!
Spent hours cryin in the tub not to flood the floor.
Had to tell my parents he was gone

It;s horrible & still I get mad at the senselessness of it all!

We all try our best...
Sometimes it;s just not good enough...

[Little Lenny]

[b][color=purple][size=15]

(CNN) -- "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," the office said in a short statement.

"We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications."

"Accidental death" always worries me in cases like this...how can you not realise you are taking a lethal concoction of drugs....I always thought when someone took an over load of medication it was known as suicide ...

I'm not being facetious here, I mean it, how can some one really not know that they are taking a lethal combination of drugs..