TMZ has the official cause of death for actress Brittany Murphy, who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 32 on December 20th. It’s hard to tell in the initial report what the root cause of Brittany’s death was, but they say she had pneumonia, iron deficiency anemia and “multiple drug intoxication.” In a follow-up report, TMZ has clarification from a source at the coroner’s office. It was the pneumonia and anemia that led to Murphy’s death and the medication, a legitimate prescription and some cough syrup, that “pushed her over the line”:

Sources involved in Brittany Murphy’s autopsy tell TMZ her death was “preventable.”

Sources say the primary causes of Murphy’s death were pneumonia and severe anemia. L.A. County Coroner officials believe Brittany’s condition was “treatable” but no one took her to the hospital in time.

As for the multiple drugs found in her system, we’re told they were both prescription, including medicine for cramps, and over-the-counter medications, including cough syrup. Our sources say the drugs “pushed her over the line” but the underlying problems were the pneumonia and anemia.

In other words, Brittany was really sick, didn’t get treatment and by self-medicating it pushed her over the line.

[From TMZ]

These findings are consistent with what we’ve heard from Brittany’s mother and widower, who both insisted in interviews that she was on only drugs for her menstrual cramps and that she wasn’t taking multiple prescriptions. They also said that she had what seemed like a slight flu before she died. Coupled with her weakened system, it was enough to cause Brittany’s death. I hope her family can find a small amount of peace in this news.