TAMPA, Fla. — Cocaine use contributed to the heart disease that suddenly killed Billy Mays in June, medical officials revealed Friday.
While a heart attack remains the official cause of death for the TV pitchman, the coroner determined that Mays was using cocaine just days before he died on June 28.
“From the presence of metabolites of cocaine and the absence of cocaine itself, it was concluded that Mr. Mays used cocaine in the few days prior to his death but not immediately prior to death,” read a statement from the Hillsborough County, Fla. medical examiner.
The 50-year-old Mays was found dead by his wife after suffering a heart attack in his sleep at the couple’s home in Tampa, Fla.
The TV star’s family was quick to criticize the release of the cocaine findings, saying the report “contains speculative conclusions that are frankly unnecessary and tend to obscure the conclusion that Billy suffered from chronic, untreated hypertension.”
Mays’s family said they were considering getting an independent look at the results.
AJ Khubani, a longtime friend of Mays, told the Associated Press that he was stunned by the cocaine findings.
“I’m just shocked,” said the founder of “As Seen on TV.” “He was the model of a responsible citizen.”
