Philip Seymour Hoffman

Coroner: Philip Seymour Hoffman died of acute mixed drug intoxication http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/showbiz/philip-seymour-hoffman-autopsy/

New York (CNN) -- Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was found dead February 2 on the bathroom floor of his New York apartment with a syringe in his left arm, died of acute mixed drug intoxication, including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines and amphetamine, the New York medical examiner's office said Friday.

The manner of death was ruled an accident, the medical examiner's office said in a statement.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, said that 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," he said. "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."