Actress Brittany Murphy Dies

The actress Brittany Murphy, who starred in the movies "Clueless," "8 Mile," and "Just Married," has died at the age of 32 of a heart attack. Her close friends say that she had a drug problem and was addicted to prescription drugs, including Vicodin. They say that she became dependent on painkillers after having a series of plastic surgery operations. Before her death, she had been taking prescription medication for flu-like symptoms and was very sick when she went into cardiac arrest. She was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, where she pronounced dead on arrival at 10:04 a.m. on Monday. Many different prescriptions were found in the home that were prescribed to her, her husband Simon, Monjack, and Murphy's mother. The LA County Coroner's office will perform an autopsy and toxicology report on her against her husband's wishes.

Singer Erykah Badu Has New Baby

This past Sunday, the singer Erykah Badu gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She said that she gave birth at home without the use of painkillers and the labor lasted five hours. The father of the child is Badu's boyfriend who is the rapper Jay Electronica. Badu also has a son and daughter from previous relationships.

Actor Health Ledger’s Drug Inquiry Dropped

Federal prosecutors have chosen not to open a criminal case into how the late actor Heath Ledger was able to get the painkillers that contributed to his death earlier this year. Lately, prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan had been overseeing a Drug Enforcement Administration probe into whether the painkillers found in Ledger’s body were obtained illegally. Prosecutors decided not to open a case because they don’t believe that there is anybody to make responsible for his death. The actress Mary-Kate Olsen was Ledger’s close friend and played a part in this decision because she demanded immunity before answering questions about his death and drug use. A case can still be opened if there is evidence of a crime.

DEA investigators suspect that the painkillers found in Ledger’s body were obtained with false prescriptions and illegally in other ways. The painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone were found in his system. Ledger had also taken anti-anxiety mediation and sleeping pills that were legally prescribed by doctors in California and Texas.

Heath Ledger Died of Overdose

It is found that the actor Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication, and other prescription drugs, says a New York City medical examiner. The cause of death was acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine. The medical examiner’s office only named the name of generic drugs, so it is unclear if Ledger took generic or brand-name drugs.

Police found six types of prescription drugs in his apartment, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medicine. It isn’t released how much of each drug was found in his blood or if one drug played a greater role than others in causing his death. None of the drugs were taken excessively but the combination of having all the different drugs in his body at the same time proved deadly.

On January 22^nd Heath Ledger was found by a masseuse in the bed of his rented SoHo apartment. When she entered his bedroom to set up for the massage, she found him unresponsive. She then called his friend Mary-Kate Olsen three times over the next 9 minutes before calling 911. Ledger had been dead for a while when he was found.