Calling it an “accidental drug overdose,” New York City’s medical examiner’s office says DJ AM, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, died from a combination of prescription drugs and cocaine.
It appears Goldstein was a walking drug store. In addition to the cocaine found in his system, his body also contained OxyContin, Hydrocodone or Vicodin, antianxiety drugs Xanax and Ativan, anger-managing Klonopin, Benadryl and Levamisole, reportedly used to cut cocaine.
The medical examiner’s office did not say how much of each drug was found in Goldstein’s system, but it did determine the official cause of death – acute intoxication due to the combined effects of the drugs.
Goldstein’s body was found shirtless and wearing sweat pants in his NYC/SoHo apartment Aug. 28. A tablet thought to be OxyContin was lodged in his throat while a crack pipe and prescription pill bottles were found in the apartment.
Ironically, MTV was scheduled to air “Gone Too Far” – a program featuring Goldstein and concerned families conducting drug interventions for loved ones – in October. MTV hasn’t said whether it will broadcast the show.
It’s also kind of ironic that a man who survived a deadly jet crash less than a year earlier would eventually die of something as mundane as an overdose.
In September 2008 Goldstein and blink-182 drummer Travis Barker were flying home to California in a private Learjet after they had performed at a concert in Columbia, S.C., when the plane crashed on takeoff, killing four people. Goldstein and Barker were the only survivors.