This undated publicity image provided by A&E shows
actor Corey Haim who died on Wednesday aged 38. (AP
Photo/Courtesy AETN, L. Pief Weyman)
The name of the late actor Corey Haim was found on a
fraudulent prescription for a powerful painkiller that
authorities said was obtained through a major drug ring.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown's office said records
of the prescription in the name of the former teen heartthrob
were found during an investigation of the ring that illegally
obtained prescription pads and used the stolen identities of
doctors to fill them out.
"Corey Haim's death is yet another tragedy linked to the
growing problem of prescription drug abuse," Brown said in a
written statement. "This problem is increasingly linked to
criminal organisations, like the illegal and massive
prescription drug ring under investigation."
Los Angeles County coroner's officials, however, said they
have not yet determined what killed the 38-year-old Haim on
Wednesday.
State law enforcement authorities said they were
investigating the drug ring and how the name of Haim, who
battled addiction for years, appeared on the prescription.
Javier Salaiz, an investigator with the state attorney
general's office, said authorities have not yet confirmed
that Haim actually filled the prescription or if someone was
using his name to acquire the prescription.
However, a person familiar with the investigation who spoke
on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing said
Haim may have been doctor shopping.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said four prescription drug
bottles bearing the actor's name were found in the apartment
where he collapsed, but all those drugs had been provided by
a doctor who had been treating the actor.
The coroner's office has declined to state what medications
were discovered, but said no illegal drugs were found.
Winter said no determination had been made about Haim's cause
of death, and toxicology tests would not be available for at
least a month.
He said he had not been contacted by the attorney general's
office.
"It surprises me that Jerry Brown would come out and give a
cause of death," he said.
Brown said later in an interview that he didn't know what
killed Haim.
The illegal prescription was for the powerful painkiller
OxyContin, he said.
"This is a growing and dangerous problem," Brown said.
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