Carrie Fisher died of 'sleep apnoea' and had taken drugs, coroner's report finds

Star Wars actor Carrie Fisher died from sleep apnoea and had drugs in her system, according to a Los Angeles coroner's report obtained by US media.

Fisher was found to have taken multiple drugs, but investigators could not confirm whether they contributed to her death in December last year, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said in a statement to the Associated Press (AP) today.  

Another factor contributing to her death was the build-up of fatty tissue in the walls of her arteries, the coroner reportedly found.

Fisher’s only daughter Billie Lourd, responded to the findings in a statement to People.

“My mum battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it.  She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases,” Ms Lourd said.

Fisher, 60, went into cardiac arrest while on a flight to London to Los Angeles on December 23.

She could  not be revived by hospital staff and died on the morning of December 27.

Her mother and fellow Hollywood icon Debbie Reynolds died a day later, after being rushed to hospital, aged 84.