Money, fame, and addiction: Corey Haim's life and career were almost as tragic as
his passing — but what secrets have we learned from the star's autopsy report?
Corey Haim's death in 2010 came as a blow to Gen X movie fans, who likely knew him from
films such as The Lost Boys and Lucas. Haim had long struggled with addiction,
and after he became unresponsive in his Oakwood, California apartment,
many speculated that he finally succumbed to his substance use issues. Prescription drug
use was certainly an ongoing problem for the one-time teen heartthrob; three years earlier,
Haim had appeared on Nightline and discussed his struggles with substance abuse, sharing:
"I ruined myself to the point where I wasn't functional enough to work for anybody,
even myself. I wasn't working. You know, if I'm not working, how (can) anybody else expect me
to work for them if I'm not working. I mean physically working. My brain wasn't working."
Nevertheless, Haim's death was officially ruled to have come down to natural causes : namely,
respiratory distress caused by pneumonia, among other issues.
Haim's mother, Judy Haim, later revealed that she had been caring for her son in
the time leading up to his death. He had been complaining about a headache, fever,
and severe coughing, when Judy fell asleep alongside him in their shared apartment.
"It wasn't anything at all that I would have worried about."
She woke up when Haim rose from the bed around 1:30 a.m. Upon returning to his bedroom,
Judy witnessed Haim slump to his knees, after which time he became unresponsive. Judy called
911 and was instructed to administer CPR while emergency responders were
dispatched. According to his autopsy, Haim was officially declared dead at 2:15 a.m,
at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 38 years old.
Early autopsy results suggested that Haim may have died from pulmonary congestion, or
a build-up of fluid in the lungs sometimes caused by congestive heart failure. During the autopsy,
his lungs were noted to have become significantly enlarged. The pulmonary congestion theory could
have been related to something else uncovered in Haim's autopsy: The actor had an enlarged
heart when he died, which can be caused by a number of factors, including high blood
pressure or other heart diseases. In addition to his heart being nearly twice the expected size,
many of Haim's blood vessels were heavily blocked, and his liver was enlarged too.
Trace amounts of various medications were found in Haim's system. It's known that the
actor sought out large quantities of prescription medications before he died, including the powerful
painkiller Oxycontin, though no Oxycontin was found in his body during the autopsy.
Generic valium and ibuprofen were found, however, among other legal
prescription medications.These included Prozac, an antipsychotic medication, a muscle relaxant,
a tranquilizer, and THC. In the past, most of the medications Haim obtained reportedly came
from illegal prescription mills; he also allegedly took part in "doctor shopping,"
which enabled him to acquire large amounts of prescription medication from different doctors
and pharmacies. In the months prior to his death, he had gathered over 500 pills using this method.
Nearly-empty bottles of prescription medication were also found in Haim's apartment, though those
had apparently been emptied by Haim's mother prior to his death. On the role that the drugs
in Haim's body may have played in his death, Deputy Medical Examiner Juan M. Carrillo wrote:
"The medications did not contribute acutely to his death, therefore the manner of death is natural."
According to state investigators, Haim had obtained Vicodin, Valium, Soma, and Xanax
a short time before his death, though none were listed in Haim's postmortem report. Soon after,
then-governor Jerry Brown opened an official probe into prescription drug rings in California. One
person was arrested in connection with supplying the actor with illegal prescription medication,
but they were not charged or held in connection with his death.