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# Inquest
Carrie Fisher's death caused by sleep apnea and 'other causes', coroner says
The legendary Star Wars actress died suddenly last December.
CARRIE FISHER, THE actress of Star Wars fame, died from sleep apnea and “other undetermined factors,” the Los Angeles County coroner’s office has said.
The brief statement also cited conditions of drug use and atherosclerotic heart disease, a buildup of plaque in the artery walls.
Under “how injury occurred”, the report noted the intake of multiple drugs, the significance of which remained unclear, it said.
Sleep apnea is a common condition which sees a person prone to pauses in breathing while sleeping. Such pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes.
Normally, regular breathing eventually resumes as a matter of course.
The coroner’s office said the manner of death would be listed as undetermined.
The actress – who catapulted to worldwide stardom as rebel warrior Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy – suffered a medical emergency on a transatlantic flight in late December. She died four days later at the age of 60.
In January, the LA coroner listed the cause of death as cardiac arrest.
Fisher had suffered from numerous addictions and was searingly honest about her bipolar disorder, as well as prescription drug use.
The actress’s mother Debbie Reynolds, who won moviegoers’ hearts as a star of Singin’ in the Rain, died the day after Fisher.
In a statement to People magazine Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd connected her mother’s death to drugs.
“My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life,” Lourd said.
She ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases.
Additional reporting Cianan Brennan
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