The official word on Heath's death

Washington (ANI): Heath Ledger died due to an accidental overdose of a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner's office has ruled. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office, said that the cause of death was 'acute intoxication by the combined effects of six different drugs including powerful painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication.

"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Diazepam, Temazepam, Alprazolam, and Doxylamine," People quoted Borakove, as saying. "We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications," she added. The 28-year-old actor's father, Kim, spoke out on official cause of death.

"Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage," he said. Now that it has been proved that Heath Ledger died of an overdose of prescription pills, the federal government is stepping in to investigating how the actor was able to obtain so many drugs. New York's Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Erin Mulvey confirmed that they would investigate how the actor obtained the various drugs.

"We are working with the NYPD to identify any illegally prescribed drugs that may have been prescribed to [Ledger]," People quoted Mulvey, as saying. The New York City medical examiner's office ruled that Ledger died due to an accidental overdose of a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs.