An autopsy report released Monday shows that Carrie Fisher had cocaine in her system just before her death, The Associated Press reports.
Investigators were unable to determine how much of an impact the cocaine and other drugs found in her system had on the actress’ death. A previous coroner’s report, released Friday, said Fisher died from a combination of factors, including sleep apnea; she also had fatty buildup in the walls of her arteries.
Fisher suffered a cardiac medical emergency during a flight from London to Los Angeles last December. According to the most recent autopsy report, Fisher may have taken cocaine three days before she became ill on that flight, which was on Dec. 23. She died Dec. 27.
The report also stated Fisher had traces of heroin and MDMA in her system, but investigators could not confirm when they were taken.
Following the release of the initial report, Fisher’s daughter, actress Billie Lourd responded with a heartfelt statement.
“My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases,” she told People.
She continued:
She talked about the shame that torments people and their families confronted by these diseases. I know my Mom, she’d want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles. Seek help, fight for government funding for mental health programs. Shame and those social stigmas are the enemies of progress to solutions and ultimately a cure. Love you Momby.
Throughout her life, Fisher was refreshingly honest about her past with bipolar disorder and drug use. She wrote about her experiences in her memoir Wishful Drinking, which she later adapted into a one-woman show.
The actress — along with her mother, Debbie Reynolds, who died one day after Fisher — was remembered at a public memorial service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles in March of this year.
This post has been updated to include Billie Lourd’s statement addressing the coroner’s report released last week.
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