Tom Petty died of accidental drug overdose, his family says

SEATTLE – Rock star Tom Petty died of an accidental drug overdose last year, his family said Friday.

In a post on the official Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Facebook page, Dana and Adria Petty - his wife and daughter - said they’d met with the medical examiner Friday morning and learned the news.

The day Petty died, he learned an already-injured hip had been exacerbated and became broken – likely as a result of the extended tour he’d just finished.

“It is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his over use of medication,” the post reads.

According to TMZ, Petty died of "multi-system organ failure" caused by "mixed drug toxicity."  Petty was using “a variety of medications” including a Fentanyl patch.

During an examination October 3, 2017, the medical examiner found fentanyl, oxycodone, temazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetylfentanyl and despropionyl fentanyl.

Petty was also suffering from coronary artery atherosclerosis and emphysema.

“As a family, we recognize this report may spark a further discussion on the opioid crisis and we feel that it is a healthy and necessary discussion and we hope in some way this report can save lives,” the post reads. “Many people who overdose begin with a legitimate injury or simply do not understand the potency and deadly nature of these medications.”