Tom Petty Died of Accidental Overdose, Coroner Says
Tom Petty Died of Accidental Overdose, Coroner Says
January 21st, 2018 by Cindy Perlin
Beloved singer/songwriter Tom Petty died of an accidental overdose of prescription medications, including opioids, according to a recently completed autopsy. He joins other famous entertainers Michael Jackson, Prince, Heath Ledger, Philip Seymour Hoffman and hundreds of thousands of lesser known individuals in losing their lives as a result of their use of prescription medications for pain and other associated ailments.
The coroner found traces in Petty’s body of the drugs fentanyl (an opioid), oxycodone (another opioid), temazepam (a benzodiazepine, brand name Restoril used for anxiety), alprazolam (another benzodiazepine, brand name Xanax), citalopram (an SSRI antidepressant, brand name Celexa). His family released a statement that Petty suffered from “many serious ailments including emphysema, knee problems and most significantly a fractured hip,” but that he continued to tour, worsening his conditions. “On the day he died he was informed his hip had graduated to a full on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his over use of medication.”
It is well known that prescribing opioids along with anti-anxiety drugs increases the dangers of overdose because both classes of drugs suppress respiration. Yet even those who presumably have access to the best medical care because of more than adequate financial resources are exposed to the dangers of overprescribing.
As long as doctors continue to regard pharmaceuticals as the only legitimate treatment for chronic pain while ignoring dozens of safer and more effective treatments, these senseless deaths will continue to happen.
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cperlin says:
Philip Seymour Hoffman was a heroin addict when younger who was clean for 22 years before being prescribed opioid painkillers, which precipitated a relapse. Michael Jackson had a multitude of other prescription drugs in his system at time of death, including opioids and anti-anxiety medication. This probably was not taken into consideration when his physician injected him with the anesthetic and most likely contributed to his death. For Tom Petty, the coroner said it was the combination of drugs that caused his death and listed all the drugs found, including Celexa. I did not say that Celexa was responsible or contributing, but it’s a fact that these drug cocktails that are increasingly being prescribed for people in pain have never been tested for safety or efficacy. I’ve corrected the mistake o Heath Ledger’s name. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
1. Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a Heroin Overdose not prescription Opioids. 2.i Michael Jackson Died due to the cause of a careless doctor by over injecting anesthetic medication. 3. His name is Heath Ledger, not Heather Ledge and 4. Get more facts before you report them. An Anti-depressant such as Celexa is an SSRI and not an Opioid so you should not include that in your list of the possible drugs that caused an overdose in Tom Petty’s system. However, if he did mix multiple anti-anxiety medications and opioids in a short period of time, then yes, the user’s breathing is definitely slowed down and can cause an overdose death. However, people should realize that anti-anxiety medications do not help with pain, yet, more and more people are using anti-anxiety medications for help with insomnia and are mixing them without their doctor’s knowledge. If enough anti-anxiety medication is taken within a short time proximity of the digestion with the Oxycodone and another inactive drug can cause an overdose. Unless the Fentanyl is in liquid form from a hospital or received illegally and injected, it is given as a time released patch over a period of 72 hours. If all of the above were taken within a couple of hours and include Fentany’s timely release of medicationl, then I would agree that this is a deadly mixture. What this mixture did is lead to a heart attack in Tom Petty’s death.