Cause of Death Revealed for '80s Can't Buy Me Love Star

Amanda Peterson died from accidental overdose, autopsy finds
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 3, 2015 3:32 PM CDT
Cause of Death Revealed for '80s Can't Buy Me Love Star
This undated photo provided by Disney shows actress Amanda Peterson in "Can't Buy Me Love."   (Copyright Disney via AP)

The July death of Amanda Peterson, best known for her role in the 1987 romantic comedy Can't Buy Me Love, was the result of an accidental morphine overdose. The autopsy and toxicology report released yesterday by the Weld County Coroner's Office concluded that Peterson, 43, ingested a friend's morphine medication for unspecified pain a week before her death, the Greeley Tribune reports. Doctors didn't find recent morphine prescriptions for Peterson. But she had been prescribed multiple medications for lung and heart disease. She was also prescribed Gabapentin after a recent hysterectomy. The coroner's office found high levels of Gabapentin in her body but concluded Peterson died from respiratory depression because of a morphine overdose. (More celebrity death stories.)

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