Wednesday, 30 September 2009

Medical examiner rules DJ AM death an accidental overdose

Officials say Adam Goldstein didn't commit suicide

DJ AM was seriously injured in a plane crash last year in South Carolina

The New York City Medical Examiner's office has officially ruled Adam 'DJ AM' Goldstein's death an accidental drug overdose and revealed that he had a number of drugs in his system at the time of his death.

'We've done the testing and investigation in conjunction with the NYPD and in our opinion this was an accidental overdose rather than suicide,' Medical Examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove told PEOPLE Tuesday.

The popular deejay was found dead in the bedroom of his New York City apartment Aug. 28. A New York police source previously told PEOPLE that he was found with eight undigested OxyContin pills in his stomach and a ninth in his mouth. A crack pipe was also found near his body.

Borakove said the drugs in his system included cocaine (she could not specify whether it was crack cocaine or powder cocaine), Levamisole (an drug commonly used to cut cocaine), oxycodone (the active ingredient in OxyContin), hydrocodone (a powerful pain reliever), and Ativan, Klonapin and Xanax, all anti-anxiety drugs. Borakove could not say whether Goldstein held a prescription for any of the drugs in his system.

Last September, Goldstein and Blink 182's Travis Barker were the only survivors of a small plane crash in South Carolina, and friends have said Goldstein had a tough time emotionally recovering from it.

Kathy Ehrich Dowd