After some time of careful investigation, coroner Suzanne Greenaway finally came to the conclusion that Amy Winehouse drank herself to death. She died with empty vodka bottles in her room and the alcohol content in her body was five times the British drunk driving limit.
The coroner’s verdict was “death by misadventure,” wherein accidental alcohol poisoning occurred after the late singer resumed drinking after weeks of abstinence. Fatal levels of alcohol caused Winehouse’s “sudden and unexpected death.”
Over the past few years, the 27-year-old singer had struggled with serious drug and alcohol problems. Contrary to the speculations that she died from drug overdose, a pathologist said it was the resumption of heavy drinking that killed the singer of the Grammy-winning album “Back to Black” at her London home on July 23.
“She’s made tremendous efforts over the years,” said Dr. Christina Romete, who had treated the singer. But “she had her own way and was very determined to do everything her way.”
Romete recounted that Winehouse had stopped using illicit drugs in 2008, but her habits see-sawed between alcohol abuse and abstinence for years. A few days before her death, she had resumed drinking after abstaining from alcohol for most of July. She had warned Winehouse of the fatal effects of alcoholism “on the system, including respiratory depression and death, heart problems, fertility problems, and liver problems.”
On Wednesday, witnesses testified that the singer did not exhibit signs of impending suicide and was actually looking forward to her birthday just a few hours before she was found dead. Romete said Winehouse was “tipsy” but calm on the night before her death. Her live-in security guard, Andrew Morris, heard her laughing, watching TV, and listening to music at home. He knew she had resumed drinking, but did not notice anything amiss until he discovered her dead on her bed the following afternoon.
Police Detective Inspector Les Newman said three empty vodka bottles were found in her room. Pathologist Suhail Baithun said blood and urine samples indicated that she had a blood alcohol level of 0.4 percent prior to her death. The British and U.S. legal drunk-driving limit is 0.08 percent.
According to doctors, alcohol poisoning is often caused by binge drinking. Our body can process only about half a glass of wine per hour. When the intake exceeds this unit, severe dehydration, hypothermia, seizures, breathing problems, heart attack, and other difficulties can occur. Each case varies with age, sex, weight, how fast the alcohol is drunk, and other factors such as drug use. Winehouse stood 5 feet 3 inches and had appeared extremely thin in recent years.
Dr. Joseph Feldman, chief of emergency services at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey said the singer had most likely developed alcohol tolerance because of her heavy drinking habits. Librium, the prescribed sedative that she was using, wouldn’t have stopped her from having seizures if she was in alcohol withdrawal. He said it is easier to quit heroin than alcohol because withdrawal from the latter “can cause anxiety, tremors, hallucinations, the sensation of things crawling all over you,” and those symptoms sometimes force people to resume drinking.
“It’s possible she could have been saved if she had been found (or treated) earlier,” he said. “A lot of treatment is supportive care, like IV fluids and making sure they don’t inhale their own vomit.”
Winehouse’s 2006 “Back to Black” album was the best-selling disc in Britain during the 21st century. She also received 5 Grammy Awards and gained worldwide popularity for her unique voice and style. In June, her show in Belgrade was abruptly canceled after she slurred through her songs and was booed off stage. She had to go back to Britain to recover.
Although the Winehouse family did not attend the hearing and did not speak to the media, their spokesman Chris Goodman said they were relieved “to finally find out what happened to Amy.” The family said through Goodman that they were extremely hurt by the fact that she did not win her battle with alcohol in time.
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