Dr. Drew

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Dr. Drew analyzes Whitney Houston's full autopsy report

Whitney Houston’s final autopsy report states that the singer drowned face down in a tub of hot water about 12 inches deep.

The Los Angeles County coroner had ruled that Houston's death was an accidental drowning with the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" as contributing factors.

“This theory she had some sort of heart problem - I take issue with that,” HLN’s Dr. Drew said Wednesday night. “She had minimal heart disease on this autopsy report. Sixty-percent [narrowing of her arteries] is something that no doctor would do anything with because it’s harmless. You would watch it over the next 10 to 20 years.”

Along with cocaine, the toxicology report listed other drugs in her body, including marijuana, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril and the allergy medicine Benadryl.

“There’s some other clue in here - Her being upside down in the bathtub [and] low levels of Xanax in her blood in spite of the empty pill bottles at her bedside which should have had large amounts of Xanax in it,” Dr. Drew said.

Shelly Sprague, resident technician of "Celebrity Rehab" furthered the thought. “I think what we’re looking at is possibly some type of seizure that [caused] her to flip over,” she said.

Dr. Drew interjected, “I think that's exactly right. Here’s a way to induce a seizure … by not taking Xanax - by not taking it for a period of time - the blood levels go low. Cocaine induces seizures as well. Cannabis is of no help here. So she’s on all things that can create seizures. Everything looks like she had a seizure and their saying heart disease.”

He added, “She had no booze in her blood ... another thing that can cause a seizure is the booze coming out of your system. She may have been trying to get off some of these things and needed more medical supervision.”

Houston won six Grammys and sold 170 million albums, singles and videos over the course of her career.

“This is a very sad story,” Dr. Drew concluded. “Addiction kills people by so many different means. And that is what this is - another addiction death."

Watch Dr. Drew weeknights at 9 p.m. ET on HLN and follow the show on Twitter @DrDrewHLN.

Tonight: Woman allegedly helps healthy man commit suicide

A California woman stands charged with helping a healthy man commit suicide. He wasn't bedridden, terminally ill, or in serious pain, but reportedly suffered from depression and PTSD.

Did she do it out of compassion, or for some other reason?  Is assisted suicide ever okay?  If so, where do we draw the line?

HLN’s Dr. Drew and his guests discuss the controversy.

Watch Dr. Drew weeknights at 9 ET/6 PT and follow the show on Twitter @DrDrewHLN.


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