PREACH IT! Coroner’s reports are in for Brittany Murphy and Casey Johnson

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Brittany Murphy’s mom and her widower have both said the late actress didn’t do drugs; instead, they insisted in recent interviews, she was merely ‘high on life.’ But now the coroner’s report is in, and it connects Murphy’s death to prescription drugs.

According to the report, the beautiful actress died Dec. 20 because of a combination of factors, including pneumonia, iron deficiency, anemia -- and intoxication from multiple prescription drugs.

Doubtless widower Simon Monjack will have some new spin on this in a matter of hours; she had never done drugs before Dec. 20, her heartbreak over Hollywood’s cruelty drove her to take the drugs, everyone light a candle. Since Murphy’s death, Monjack has practically made a second (or maybe first) career out of parading his sadness in the media, slinging painfully self-important tropes about how Hollywood broke Murphy’s heart, and soliciting thousands of dollars for tickets to a barely-planned, and now, apparently, postponed, charity memorial. One can only wonder why his screenwriting career hasn’t taken off into the stratosphere.

Conversely, the cause of socialite Casey Johnson’s death was also released today. Johnson had a widely reported drug problem at times, but according to the L.A. county coroner, she died from complications linked to her diabetes. Specifically, she suffered from diabetic ketoacidosis; the Mayo Clinic describes the condition as a serious complication of untreated diabetes. There’s no reaction from the Johnson family at this hour; confoundingly, they are, with few exceptions, choosing to endure their loss in private.

-- Leslie Gornstein

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Related Ministry of Gossip dispatches:

Brittany Murphy’s death certificate released; cause of death deferred

Brittany Murphy and the USO: an exclusive photo appreciation

Brittany Murphy and Simon Monjack: crazy in love

Brittany Murphy dies at 32; young Hollywood reacts

Beyond Casey Johnson: Socialites we don’t worry about

Heiress Casey Johnson dead at 30

Heiress Casey Johnson to be buried on East Coast; questions over death remain

Coroner to perform autopsy; determining Casey Johnson’s cause of death could take weeks

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