Amy is taking a prescription drug called Librium … At the time of her death Amy Winehouse had a blood alcohol level of 416mg: that’s more than five times the drink-drive limit. ibid.
Amy Winehouse had been battling bulimia. ibid.
‘Every day she did some kind of self harm.’ ibid. friend
Amy had previously used marijuana, heroin and crack cocaine … Had Amy started using any or all of these drugs again? ibid.
When alcohol and cocaine are consumed together they can produce a third toxic chemical called Cocaethylene. ibid.
There’s no suggestion illegal drugs played a part in her death. ibid.
Librium can produce adverse side effects. ibid.
Respiratory arrest, became unconscious and never work up. But why did she suddenly relapse … borderline personality disorder. ibid.
Keith Ledger was Hollywood’s rising star … At 3:36 pm on 22nd January 2008 Ledger was pronounced dead in the bedroom of his New York apartment. He was just 28 years old. Autopsy: Heath Ledger’s Last Hours
Keith Ledger battled drug use, personal life in crisis and the psychological trauma of playing The Joker. ibid.
He’d been fighting off a nasty cold … He’s tired. He’s exhausted. ibid.
There were no illegal drugs in his system. ibid.
The presence of prescription drugs in his system at the time of his death … Diazepam … Doxylamine … Temazepam … Alprazolam … Zoloft … Hydrocodone & Oxycodone. ibid.
‘Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night.’ ibid. Heath to journalist
The medical examiner concluded that Heath died as a result of the abuse of six prescription drugs. ibid.
‘We have a death. We need to confirm identification and we need to perform an autopsy.’ Autopsy: Kurt Cobain’s Last Hours, rozzer in situ
The world was stunned when Kurt Cobain, the twenty-seven-year-old musician and self-styled prince of grunge was found dead. But with success came pressures Kurt found hard to handle. ibid.
8th April 1994: Kurt Cobain is found at his house in Seattle with a gunshot wound to his head. ibid.
Kurt was a frequent heroin user and said he took it to treat his abdominal pain. ibid.
ADHD and prescribed the drug Ritalin … For a decade his ADHD went untreated and his addiction to heroin reached dangerous levels. ibid.
Many have refused to accept it was suicide. ibid.
Kurt Cobain did indeed kill himself. ibid.
Patrick Swayze was a legendary actor, dancer and singer … died almost unrecognisable at home in California on 14th September 2009. But behind the scenes Patrick wasn’t always the golden boy he was thought to be. And years after his death the press reported wild rumours. Autopsy: Patrick Swayze’s Last Hours
He’s also been married to Lisa for over 30 years. But at a New Years’ Eve Party with friends Patrick suddenly feels unwell. He finds the champagne is burning his insides. Patrick has also been suffering from constipation and stomach cramps for the last few days. ibid.
Jaundice is a sign of a malfunctioning liver … He does have a history of alcohol abuse … Patrick Swayze is diagnosed with adenocarcinoma – a type of pancreatic cancer. ibid.
He was a chronic smoker of 60 cigarettes a day. ibid.
But his cancer was spreading and he was becoming increasingly susceptible to infection. ibid.
‘The shocking death of popular Canadian actor Cory Monteith …’ Autopsy: Cory Monteith’s Last Hours, news
Cory Monteith was a global superstar … Blessed with a talent for acting and genuine Mr Nice Guy charm … An autopsy is carried out: when the results are inconclusive there’s wild speculation of a wild double life. ibid.
Cory Monteith did have an issue with alcohol abuse. ibid.
‘Mr Monteith had a history of illicit drug use.’ ibid. medical report
Cory was fighting a deadly battle with his inner demons. ibid.
There was evidence that Cory was still using heroin. ibid.
Judy Garland was one of the world’s most recognised talents … She was known for her tremendous talent but also for her turbulent lifestyle and stormy love life. But on morning of June 22 1969 Judy Garland was found dead in her London home aged just 47. Autopsy: Judy Garland’s Last Hours
The coroner’s report states that Judy Garland died of an overdose of prescription medication. ibid.
She is struggling under the pressure of mounting debts. ibid.
‘Between 25 and 30 suicide attempts over the years.’ ibid. Randy L Schmidt, author ‘Judy Garland on Judy Garland’
Judy’s random pill taking was exposing her to serious risk. ibid.
She’s underweight and potentially malnourished. ibid.
Maurice Gibb was one-third of global megaband The Bee Gees … On Wednesday January 8th 2003 Maurice Gibb collapsed in agony at his Miami home: he died four days later aged just 53. Autopsy: Maurice Gibb’s Last Hours
Maurice Gibb was a heavy smoker. ibid.
A drug which Maurice is known to have enjoyed: alcohol. ibid.
When Maurice dies his liver appears normal. ibid.
Maurice went into multi-system organ failure. ibid.
‘Steve McQueen died today, 50 years old.’ Autopsy: Steve McQueen’s Hours, television news
Steve McQueen was a legendary actor. His remarkable performances won him millions of fans and millions of dollars. By the mid 1970s the king of cool was the world’s highest paid movie star … Died almost unrecognisable in a hospital bed in Mexico on 7th November 1980. ibid.
‘Despite reports of Steve looking unwell during the filming of The Hunter his medical records for the year before he died suggest he was in fairly good shape.’ ibid. pathologist
From a rough childhood to deafness Steve didn’t let anything stand in his way. ibid.
‘He had been suffering from a persistent cough that was getting progressively worse.’ ibid.
‘Steve’s cancer was a direct result of his exposure to asbestos.’ ibid.
Jimi Hendrix, electric guitar virtuoso, was one of the highest paid musicians in the world … After his death on 18th September 1970 when he was just 27 years old the coroner concluded that he died after he breathed in his own vomit, but stating insufficient evidence of the circumstances he recorded an open verdict. Autopsy s6e1: Jimi Hendrix’s Last Hours
He’s been complaining of a cough he can’t shake off … exhausted and feverish. ibid.
Jimi had been drinking alcohol prior to his death … A quantity of amphetamine identified in his urine … Quinalbarbitone identified in the blood … a very high level … he lapses into a coma and dies. ibid.
1987: a hearse is escorted by police helicopter from Los Angeles toward the desert town of Palm Springs. Inside is the body of a man who w as once the highest grossing entertainer in America. The body has been seized by the authorities: against the wishes of his family they are going to conduct an autopsy. What they find will finally destroy his public image and expose the carefully constructed lie that has sustained his career; it is the body of Liberace. Reputations s7e2: Liberace: Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful, BBC 2000
Incredibly, female prisoners were forced to scrape the skulls clean with glass shards before the specimens were sent off for examination. In 1906 a total of 778 autopsies were performed on prisoners for so-called racial-biological research. Dr Eugen Fischer arrived in north-west Africa just after the death camps opened. Obsessed with the voguish new science of race he saw the camps as an ideal research opportunity ... In 1913 Fischer published his findings: Negro blood, he concluded, was fundamentally inferior to white blood. Niall Ferguson, Civilisation: Is the West History? 2011
There was no autopsy on the body of Mary Jo Kapechne. Inside Story: Chappaquiddick, BBC 1994
Backed by al-Fayed they got four of Europe’s top pathologists to examine the post-mortem report. They dissected the autopsy. And listed twenty-eight critical errors that made the autopsy unreliable. They included: the autopsy was not timed; no precise description of how Henri Paul’s body was identified; no explanation for 20.7% carbon monoxide; the final conclusions of the four pathologists was damning: ‘The results on carbon monoxide in the blood are inexplicable, as inexplicable as the attitude of Dr Pepin and Professor Lecomte who continue to present arguments that have no rigour and no scientific value to justify their results. The hypothesis that there was a mix-up in the samples needs to be seriously considered’. Diana: The Night She Died, Channel 5 2003
In Henri Paul none of that was present – his liver’s reported to be normal size, normal consistency, no evidence of fatty change ... There’s no mention in Henri Paul’s autopsy that there was any smell of alcohol in the stomach ... One would expect there would be heavy smell from the stomach in the course of the autopsy, and this was not recorded ... There is no evidence that Henri Paul was drunk or under the influence of alcohol. Dr David Posey, forensic pathologist
The bottom line is we really do not have an explanation for where this carbon monoxide level came from. Dr David Posey
Either the samples were contaminated from the stomach contents or there is the possibility the samples were accidentally switched. We’ll never know if this was Henri Paul’s blood. Dr David Posey