deaths

Tom Petty’s Family Confirms He Died of an Accidental Overdose

Photo: Scott Legato/Getty Images

TMZ reported this afternoon, with the Petty family confirming, that Tom Petty’s death last October was due to an accidental overdose. According to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, the musician had a panel of drugs in his system that included fentanyl patches, oxycodone (Oxycontin), temazepam (Restoril), alprazolam (Xanax), citalopram (Celexa), acetyl fentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl, and that his organs failed as a result of “mixed drug toxicity.” His family released a statement this afternoon validating TMZ’s report, and said they had already been given the results in a meeting with the medical examiner. They were also aware he was on a multitude of medications, saying, “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.”

Over the past few years, fentanyl has been linked to celebrity deaths like Lil Peep and Prince, and Petty’s family said they hope news of the singer’s overdose can serve as a jumping off point for better education about prescription-drug abuse. “As a family we recognize this report may spark a further discussion on the opioid crisis and we feel that it is a healthy an necessary discussion and we hope in some way this report can save lives,” read the statement “Many people who overdose begin with a legitimate injury or simply do not understand the potency and deadly nature of these medications.”

Tom Petty’s Family Confirms He Died of Accidental Overdose