Accidental Overdose Caused Ledger's Death

Two weeks after Australian actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment on Broome Street in Manhattan, the New York City Medical Examiner's Office said yesterday that he died from an accidental overdose of prescription medications including painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills.

The report stated:

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

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

As summarized in a CNN.com account,

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.

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."

The West, an Australian newspaper covering the area near Perth where Ledger grew up, said that his former fiancee and the mother of their two-year-old daughter Matilda, Michelle Williams arrived in Perth on Tuesday.

The paper also reported funeral plans:

Heath Ledger's family will farewell the actor at a private funeral in his hometown of Perth before he is laid to rest at Karakatta Cemetery in the family plot.

Ledger's parents, Kim and Sally, have chosen not to take up an offer from his old school, Guildford Grammar, for a funeral in its chapel in Perth's east, a source close to them has told The Australian.

The paper further said that Jake Gyllenhaal, who acted opposite the Oscar-nominated Ledger in Brokeback Mountain and is Matilda's godfather, was likely to attend the funeral, to be held on a date to be announced.

(Police outside Heath Ledger's apartment at 421 Broome Street on the day is body was found, Jauary 22; photo by James Devaney/WireImage)

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