Months after Tom Petty suddenly died just after wrapping a lengthy 40th-anniversary tour with his band, The Heartbreakers, the Los Angeles County Coroner has determined the cause of death. It has been determined that Petty died from mixed drug toxicity, TMZ reports. The deadly mixture in question was a combination of Fentanyl patches, oxycodone (Oxycontin), temazepam (Restoril), alprazolam (Xanax), citalopram (Celexa), acetyl fentanyl and despropionyl fentanyl. The drug overdose is considered accidental.
While the sheer number of drugs found to be in Petty’s systems is large, it is known that these were prescribed to Petty for a number of ailments, including emphysema, knee problems, and a fractured hip. TMZ notes that Petty’s family thinks the hip issue was the biggest reason for his ultimate demise, as he toured for much of 2017 while suffering from the condition, relying on the pain meds to help him get through his performance obligations. While it certainly not exactly the same scenario, it’s tough not to think of the parallels to Prince’s death, who also died of an accidental drug overdose and had fentanyl play a key part. The drug also contributed to the recent death of Lil Peep.
Petty was 66 at the time of his death on October 2nd. Petty’s family released a statement after the news was released, which you can read here. In the statement, the family confirms the TMZ report and notes that they hope this news furthers the national conversation around the opioid crisis. The family’s note also says that Petty had discovered that his fractured hip had worsened to a full-blown break on the day of his death. Read the full statement below.
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