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What A Shame: Tom Petty’s Death Ruled A ‘Drug Overdose’ – Here’s The 411

The cause of Tom Petty’s death is heartbreaking.

Read our ClashDaily tribute to the rock icon here.

His family has confirmed that his sudden death last year was due to an accidental overdose.

Dana and Adria Petty released a statement on the Official Website of Tom Petty, as well as on Facebook citing the results from the coroner’s office.  Tom Petty’s death was the result of overdose from multiple medications he was taking in order to deal with a host of medical ailments, including a fractured hip, constant knee problems, and emphysema.

From the statement:

Our family sat together this morning with the Medical Examiner – Coroner’s office and we were informed of their final analysis that Tom Petty passed away due to an accidental drug overdose as a result of taking a variety of medications.

Unfortunately Tom’s body suffered from many serious ailments including emphysema, knee problems and most significantly a fractured hip.

Despite this painful injury he insisted on keeping his commitment to his fans and he toured for 53 dates with a fractured hip and, as he did, it worsened to a more serious injury.

Here is the last song that he performed with a fractured hip, knee problems, and emphysema — which makes it difficult to exhale — quite the problem for a singer:

Petty’s hip fracture worsened to a full on break, says the family.

On the day he died he was informed his hip had graduated to a full on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his over use of medication.

We knew before the report was shared with us that he was prescribed various pain medications for a multitude of issues including Fentanyl patches and we feel confident that this was, as the coroner found, an unfortunate accident.

The Petty family is trying to find a silver lining in this horrible situation:

As a family we recognize this report may spark a further discussion on the opioid crisis and we feel that it is a healthy and necessary discussion and we hope in some way this report can save lives. Many people who overdose begin with a legitimate injury or simply do not understand the potency and deadly nature of these medications.

On a positive note we now know for certain he went painlessly and beautifully exhausted after doing what he loved the most, for one last time, performing live with his unmatchable rock band for his loyal fans on the biggest tour of his 40 plus year career. He was extremely proud of that achievement in the days before he passed.

Read the full statement here:   TomPetty.com 

The details of the coroner’s report are being cited by the media, including the host of medications that were found in Petty’s system, and confirms that they are found in prescription medications.  It was long-time manager, Tony Dimitriades, that first reported Petty’s death as a cardiac arrest that he suffered in his home and was unable to be revived after being transported to UCLA Medical Center.  The coroner has determined the official cause of death was ‘multisystem organ failure’ due to an accidental drug overdose.

The statement was posted moments before the Los Angeles coroner’s office issued its official findings, which confirmed that Petty had a variety of medications, including fentanyl and oxycodone in his system.

 The official cause was ruled as ‘multisystem organ failure’ caused by accidental drug toxicity, the Los Angeles County Coroner said Friday.

Other drugs in the singer’s system included temazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetylfentanyl and despropionyl fentanyl, the coroner’s office said.

‘A lot of these are found in prescription drugs,’ said Brian Elias, a coroner’s spokesman, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Source:  Daily Mail

Wow.

And he kept touring with all of those ailments so he wouldn’t let down his fans.

That bro really meant it when he said he Won’t Back Down.

This is certainly one rock legend that we lost too soon.

K. Walker

ClashDaily's Associate Editor since August 2016. Self-described political junkie, anti-Third Wave Feminist, and a nightmare to the 'intersectional' crowd. Mrs. Walker has taken a stand against 'white privilege' education in public schools. She's also an amateur Playwright, former Drama teacher, and staunch defender of the Oxford comma. Follow her humble musings on Twitter: @TheMrsKnowItAll and on Gettr @KarenWalker

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