Coroner: Houston drowned after cocaine use
Whitney Houston performs at the O2 Arena on April 25, 2010, in London.
March 22nd, 2012
05:24 PM ET

Coroner: Houston drowned after cocaine use

Whitney Houston died from an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub, but the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" were contributing factors in her death, the Los Angeles County Coroner said in an autopsy report released Thursday.

Houston, 48, was "found submerged in bathtub filled with water" and "no trauma or foul play is suspected," the coroner said.

The toxicology tests found other drugs in her body, including marijuana, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril and the allergy medicine Benadryl, the report said. But these drugs "did not contribute to the death," it said.

The final coroner report is expected to be made public within two weeks, the coroner said.

Houston died February 11 in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, the day before the music industry gathered for the annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

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Filed under: California • Celebrity • Showbiz • Whitney Houston
soundoff (466 Responses)
  1. Kaci

    Before all of the stupid comments start, you do not have the actual toxicology report. If you've never read one, or are unfamiliar with basic toxicology terminology, acquaint yourself before you go off all unhinged. "Depending on liver and kidney function, cocaine metabolites are detectable in urine. Benzoylecgonine can be detected in urine within four hours after cocaine intake and remains detectable in concentrations greater than 150 ng/mL typically for up to eight days after cocaine is used." Since likely only her family will have access to the toxicology report, we will never know the amount or when. But it doesn't matter. An enormous talent is gone. She had her challenges like a lot of Americans. But no amount of hateful, stupid comments by people who didn't have one ounce of the talent she had, will ever take anything away from her. RIP, Ms. Houston.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:54 pm | Report abuse |
    • yoyo

      well said...

      March 22, 2012 at 6:00 pm | Report abuse |
    • greg

      thanks Doc, so glad you are taking care of that for us illiterates, what would we do without you and your great wisdom..

      March 22, 2012 at 6:00 pm | Report abuse |
    • tori goodwin

      well said!!!

      March 22, 2012 at 6:01 pm | Report abuse |
    • justme

      but the rude funny comments sure made me laugh more than your downer know-it-all of a comment did. LOL

      March 22, 2012 at 6:09 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Matt

    cocaine use...shocking

    March 22, 2012 at 5:54 pm | Report abuse |
  3. fastball

    Shocker! Wow...who saw that coming?

    March 22, 2012 at 5:54 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Rush Was Right!

    .

    March 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Tom

    I get the feeling that the coroner, or someone, was trying to put the best description of the cause of death forward by minimizing the cocaine. Thank goodness that marijuana was listed as not a contributor to her death....whew.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Scott

    Only idiots get all loaded up on coke, Xanax, Benadryl and Flexeril and then dive into a tub filled with hot water.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Hunter

    She said it herself, crack is whack. RIP Whitney.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Michael Corleone

    She was know as a crack wh**e here in Attleboro MA.....She lived here with Bobby Brown and everybody knew what she was doing. This was no shocker around here, thats for sure.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm | Report abuse |
  9. GranDiva

    sad....Rip Whitney Elizabeth Houston

    March 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm | Report abuse |
  10. EXCON

    Whew, good thing it wasnt crack!. That woulda looked bad...

    March 22, 2012 at 5:56 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Like a BOSS

    Crack is Wack!

    March 22, 2012 at 5:56 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Yakobi

    So she drowned after having a heart attack brought on by recent and years of cocaine abuse, introduced to her by Bobby Brown.

    There you have it–Bobby Brown is to blame!!!

    March 22, 2012 at 5:56 pm | Report abuse |
    • HeIsGod

      Looks like you are delusional, Yakobi. She was a grown woman with choices and she wasn't forced to stay with Bobby, now was she? Put the blame where it really belongs.....WHITENEY HOUSTON.

      God bless you.

      March 22, 2012 at 6:02 pm | Report abuse |
  13. lenlen

    So, like she last had contact with reality three years ago or so? Did she take anything orally besides drugs?

    March 22, 2012 at 5:56 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Radiohead

    So John and Ken were actually right to call her a Crack Ho?

    March 22, 2012 at 5:56 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Jay Herr

    Normally that is just called what it is, Suicide.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:56 pm | Report abuse |
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