On October 2, 2017 the world lost an iconic rock star when Tom Petty died from a heart attack.
The Medical Examiner’s Office in Los Angeles County revealed on January 19 that Petty’s heart attack was the result of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
According to the records, at the time of his death, there was Fentanyl and oxycodone, temazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetyl fentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl in Petty’s system.
Petty was taking the medication for a hip injury he had incurred and later learned that the injury was in fact a fractured hip. He had performed a number of concerts standing on the injured hip; insisting that he did not want to disappoint his fans as they celebrated 40 years of making rock and roll. Petty also suffered from emphysema and knee problems.
Petty was the lead singer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Petty and his band had sold over 80 million records around the world at the time of his death. Petty also had a solo career and was a member of the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys.
The Florida native’s death is just one of the latest of accidental deaths due to an overdose of legal pain medications in what has now been deemed an epidemic of opioid deaths.