Coroner: Pneumonia killed Murphy, drugs had role

Brittany Murphy, the star of “Clueless” and “8 Mile,” died from pneumonia, with prescription drugs and anemia also playing a role, a coroner’s official said Thursday.

The Dec. 20 death of the actress was accidental and likely could have been prevented if Murphy had seen a doctor sooner, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said.

He noted, however, that she did have an appointment scheduled with a physician a few days after she died.

Winter declined to specify what types of drugs were involved in her death and said further details would be released in several weeks when the report was completed.

He also said there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

Winter said Murphy’s community-acquired pneumonia was serious and proved lethal when combined with the medications and iron deficiency anemia.

Murphy died at age 32 after collapsing in her Hollywood Hills home. Her mother and husband have said the actress didn’t abuse prescription medications or have an eating disorder.

Attempts to reach them for further comment were not immediately successful.

Murphy’s husband, Simon Monjack, and her mother, Sharon Murphy, told investigators the actress had been experiencing flu-like symptoms in the days before she died.

Monjack told The Associated Press last month that his wife did take several prescriptions,…