Though hypertensive heart disease was listed as Billy Mays’ cause of death, a toxicology report released on August 7, 2009, suggested that narcotics may also have played a role in his passing. The report found cocaine in Mays’ system and listed it as a contributory cause of death. The report also found levels of several prescription painkillers in Mays’ system, including hydrocodone and oxycodone, as well as alprazolam and diazepam, two prescription anti-anxiety medications. The presence of the painkillers was attributed to Mays’ chronic hip problems, for which he was scheduled to have surgery.
The toxicology report did not sit well with Mays’ family, who issued a press statement that expressed their disappointment in what they considered to be “speculative conclusions” regarding Mays’ death. They eventually commissioned a second medical report, which revealed in October 2009 that while cocaine was present in Mays’ system, it was not a “significant contributing factor” in his death.
Despite the second report, Mays’ family had to deal with lingering assumptions about his death. In the aforementioned 2013 Reddit AMA, Mays’ son said that while his father “struggled with many different impulses throughout his life,” he also stated that “he was in no way a ‘cokehead'” — a label he attributed to many media reports issued after his father’s death that suggested that he died of an overdose.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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