Prescription Drugs and Alcohol Cocktail May Have Killed Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston, who was pronounced dead at 3:55pm on Saturday, may have died from a combination of Xanax and other prescription medication mixed with alcohol, rather than drowning.
Family sources told TMZ that the Los Angeles County Coroner had reported that there was not enough water in Houston’s lungs to conclude that she had drowned, and that she may have died before her head became submerged in the bathtub of a fourth-floor room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where her body was found.
According to TMZ, Houston’s stylist, hairdresser and two body guards were among in the people in the room at the time, they had been worried about her because she had been in the bathroom for over an hour and it was time to get ready for the annual pre-Grammy party hosted by music industry executive Clive Davis party.
The 48-year-old singer’s aunt, Mary Jones, had found the Whitney’s lifeless body in the bathtub, and a half an hour later, someone from Houston’s entourage at 3:45pm called the hotel security.
TMZ also reported that Houston’s mother has arranged for the singer’s body to be flown back to Atlanta on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said on Sunday that the autopsy on Houston’s body had been completed, but that they are still awaiting results from pending toxicology tests, which they said could take six to eight weeks to process.
Los Angeles Deputy Coroner Ed Winter had confirmed earlier reports and said that “no foul play is suspected.”
Police had discovered a half dozen bottles of prescription drugs, but no illegal drugs had been found in the hotel room where Houston had died, TMZ reported. The singer’s family had said that Houston had been taking prescription drug Xanax, which is generally used to treat anxiety.
Xanax combined with alcohol can cause drowsiness, and Houston was reportedly found in her bathtub with her head underwater and was unable to be revived by paramedics after being removed from the tub.
While no alcohol was found in the preliminary sweep of Houston’s room, according to TMZ reports, but multiple sources have said that Houston had been drinking with friends the night before at the hotel.
Houston had struggled with drugs and alcohol for many years and had entered rehab last year. Houston reportedly spent Friday night at a bar of the Beverly Hilton hotel with some friends for a long time, drinking and being very loud, according to TMZ.
"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in a scandalous 2002 interview with then-husband Bobby Brown by her side.
Houston had been a guest at Grammy nominee Kelly Price’s party on Thursday at the nightclub, Tru Hollywood, and Price recalled a pleasant evening with Houston.
"We laughed and we joked and we cracked up, and we danced and sang. She was never more than two feet from me the entire night. I gave her a hug, and while I was talking to her she said give me the mic," Price told ABC News.
Houston had been there with her 18-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown and the late singer performed, what would become her last performance, a duet with Price on Friday at the “Kelly Price and Friends Unplugged: For the Love of R&B Grammy Party," according to the network.
"In retrospect it's a much bigger moment than I could have imagined. It was a big moment just because it was Whitney. The world got a gift in that they got an opportunity to see her perform one last time," Price said.
Houston’s daughter is reportedly struggling with her mother’s untimely death. She was hospitalized on Sunday for “stress and anxiety,” a family source told ABC news. She had been released Sunday afternoon as her father, Houston’s ex-husband Brown, had boarded a plane to Los Angeles.
TMZ had reported on Friday night that Bobbi Kristina had dell asleep in another bathtub at the Beverly Hilton, and friends had to contact hotel security so she could be taken out of the tub.
"At this time, we ask for privacy, especially for my daughter, Bobbi Kristina," Brown wrote in a statement released about an hour after she was transported from the hotel. "I appreciate all of the condolences that have been directed towards my family and I at this most difficult time."
Houston was one of the world’s best-selling artists from the mid-1980 to the late 1900s. She had tremendous professional success beyond music where she became an actress starring in films like ‘The Bodyguard’ and ‘Waiting to Exhale’.
Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Texas minister and producer on Houston's final film project, “Sparkle,” said he had not seen signs that Houston was having substance issues. He said the singer was very professional and moved the cast and crew to tears two months ago when she sang the gospel hymn "Her Eyes on the Sparrow" for a scene shot in Detroit, according to ABC News.
"There was no evidence in working with her on `Sparkle' that there was any struggle in her life," Jakes told the station Sunday. "She just left a deep impression on everybody."