Murphy's cause of death released

STAFF REPORT

Brittany Murphy died from multiple prescription drug intoxication, pneumonia and iron deficiency anemia in what the Los Angeles County coroner concluded was a accidental death.

The coroner released its results Thursday.

Spokesman Craig Harvey said the primary cause of Murphy's death was pneumonia, with secondary factors of iron-deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication. Harvey said the drugs ingested were all prescription medications.

Murphy could still be alive today had she seen a doctor sooner, a Los Angeles coroner official said.

"This death could've been preventable," Assistant Chief Ed Winter told People.com. "Murphy was planning on seeing a doctor, but she unfortunately passed away before she did. This was a case of a person with pneumonia who was anemic (having a low blood count) who was taking medication when she should've been getting medical treatment."

Winter also confirmed that no illegal drugs were found in the actress' system: "It was only prescription and over-the-counter meds," he said.

Harvey declined to say more about what types of drugs were involved. He said those details will be released in about two weeks when a complete autopsy report is ready.

The 32-year-old actress was found unresponsive in her Hollywood Hills home on Dec. 20, despite frantic attempts by her husband, Simon Monjack, and her mother, Sharon, to revive her.

Murphy's husband and mother said they believed Brittany's death was due to a congenital heart murmur and denied rumors that the actress used illegal drugs or suffered from an eating disorder. They added that Murphy's heart condition was diagnosed in her teens, but said she had received proper treatment for it. They also said that she'd been suffering from laryngitis and flu-like symptoms in the days before her death.

A number of prescription meds were reportedly found by investigators on her nightstand. Monjack said his wife was taking the painkiller Vicoprofen and the antidepressant Fluoxetine (also known as Sarafem) to deal with severe menstrual cramps, and that many of the other meds found were for his own use due to a seizure he recently suffered.

Murphy was laid to rest in Los Angeles on Dec. 24.