Prescription Drugs: The Story of Brittany Murphy

The death of actress Brittany Murphy was a major shock and even though it’s been a while since she died (2009), it is hard to come to terms with how she died. She left the world as a beautiful star and to this day many people cannot understand the chain of events. She was only 32 years old when she died.  Right before her death, she spoke of having a family and it seemed that she was looking forward to her future.

There were many speculations about Brittany Murphy’s death.  Was she anorexic?  The coroner said no.  The autopsy report indicated that she was 5’5, 115 pounds, and “not excessively thin.”  Was she on illegal drugs such as methamphetamine or cocaine?  No, the toxicology report came back negative for illegal drugs.  Was it her heart?  No, even though her mother said she had been diagnosed with a heart murmur in her teens, the autopsy showed that her heart was normal. What about mold in the home?  It probably wasn’t a healthy environment, but that wasn’t the cause of her death. And no fungi were found in her bloodstream. Was she poisoned?  The coroner said no and results from hair samples showed that high levels of metals was probably a result of the hair dye she used.

What really happened to Brittany Murphy? The autopsy results indicate that there were many different prescription drugs in Brittany’s system.  There were 14 prescription drugs and another 10 chemicals.  Eddie Bubar is a pharmacist who spoke publicly about the assortment of prescription drugs that were available at the house that Brittany shared with her husband, Simon Monjack, and her mother Sharon Murphy.  The pharmacist was concerned about the many prescription drugs that the three of them had been prescribed.  They often used a fake name to mask the identity of Brittany since she was a celebrity.  And that was not the only pharmacy they used.  There were supposedly 90 bottles of prescription drugs found at the house.  Why did three people need that many prescription drugs?

The toxicologist indicated that Brittany had epilepsy drugs in her system but she was not epileptic.  Yet, Simon was.  She was also taking anti-depressants, anxiety drugs (benzodiazepine and others), and she used an inhaler although she was not asthmatic. She was apparently taking cough medication as well as pain medication.  

The Los Angeles County Coroner revealed that the cause of death was:

Pneumonia

Iron Deficiency Anemia

Multiple Drug Intoxication

There are many unanswered questions.  Brittany was reportedly ill for some time before she died.  She was said to have had a respiratory infection.  Why didn’t her husband or her mother take her to a doctor?  She supposedly did have a doctor’s appointment scheduled finally but by then it was too late.  Could Brittany have been saved if she got to a doctor or hospital earlier?  Was she afraid of the paparazzi or was it her husband who was afraid? And why did Brittany’s husband die of the same thing months later?  Did Sharon Murphy know that he was on the brink of death?  We may never know the answer to these questions but getting treatment for a serious illness is urgent.  Mixing prescription drugs is dangerous. We all miss Brittany Murphy.