Philip Seymour Hoffman

On February 2nd, 2014 Philip Seymour Hoffman at the age of 46 was found dead on the bathroom floor

of his New York apartment with a syringe still in his left arm. The New York medical examiner’s office said

that Hoffman died of acute mixed drug intoxication, including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines and

amphetamine.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta CNN’s chief medical correspondent, said “as addicts take mixtures of drugs more

chronically, they may not necessarily feel the effects of the narcotics, which still suppress the respiratory

system. They’re not feeling it, but it’s still having an impact on their ability to breathe, and that’s the real

problem, it’s called stacking. You can stack the same drug too close together, or you can start to stack

other drugs, one on top of the other. That’s how people get into trouble. They do call it accidental death

as well.” When officers searched Hoffman’s home they found used syringes, prescription drugs and

empty bags that authorities suspect were used to hold heroin.

Hoffman was a film and stage actor and theater director. Some of Hoffman’s biggest films are Boogie

Nights, Red Dragon, Cold Mountain, Mission: Impossible III and The Talented Mr. Ripley. In a 2006

interview with “60 minutes” Hoffman said he had given up drugs and alcohol many years earlier, at the

age of 22. In 2013, he checked into a rehabilitation program for about 10 days after a relapse on

prescription pills resulting in his brief heroin use.

A list of some other actors that have struggled with drug addiction which resulted in their heroin

overdose related deaths are River Phoenix, John Belushi, Chris Farley, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Cory

Montheith and Elisa Bridges.

To read more about this story:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/showbiz/philip-seymour-hoffman-autopsy/