Heath Ledger was probably a drug addict, according to America's best known addiction expert, and was the victim of a prescription drug abuse epidemic.
Los Angles-based doctor Drew Pinsky says Ledger's drug taking was well known with in Hollywood.
"There were people who were very concerned about his drug use in this town before he died," Dr Pinsky told Fairfax.
Ledger, the star of box office hit The Dark Knight, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment in January. He was 28 years old.
Ledger's death was found to have been the result of an accidental overdose of six different drugs, including narcotic painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication.
Dr Pinsky said chemical dependency is not limited to illicit drugs, and prescription drug addiction is every bit as dangerous.
In fact Dr Pinsky, the head of LA's Las Encina Hospital's department of chemical dependency services, said Ledger was one casualty in a long line of victims in what he calls a prescription drug abuse 'epidemic'.
"We see this all the time," Dr Pinsky said. "We have an absolute epidemic of patients dying exactly the way he died - drug addicts."
Dr Pinsky said he did not know Ledger, but his death, and habitual drug consumption showed all the hallmarks of addiction.
"I don't know him, but I've never seen a patient die of that kind of reckless combination of medicine that wasn't a drug addict."
