Amanda Peterson, best known for her role in the film Can’t Buy Me Love, died of an accidental morphine overdose, according to a coroner’s report.
Pathologist Dr. Michael Burson wrote in the report that Amanda Peterson “was attempting to self-medicate her pain at the time of death.”
Drugs to treat depression, anxiety, pain, and insomnia were present in her blood at therapeutic levels, according to the report.. The drug gabapentin, which Peterson had been prescribed for pain from a recent hysterectomy, was present at six times the therapeutic level, the report also said. Trace amounts of marijuana were also detected.
Amanda Peterson was found dead in her Colorado apartment back in early July. Although she hadn’t been prescribed morphine at the time, it is believed she obtained the drug from a friend.
"Can’t Buy Me Love" star Amanda Peterson died of an accidental drug overdose. http://t.co/Nt7qiEHLdF pic.twitter.com/tINNkZFp1a
— Variety (@Variety) September 4, 2015
“We can’t say she has never been prescribed morphine, but we couldn’t find any recent prescriptions in her medical history, so she wasn’t a [knowledgeable] opiate user,” Coroner Mike Ward said in the report. “The amount of morphine she ingested, coupled with her heart and lung disease, resulted in a fatal event.”
In addition to her role in Can’t Buy Me Love, alongside Patrick Dempsey, Amanda Peterson had a role in the first film version of the musical Annie.
In my memory, she will always be vibrant and young. Gone too soon. Sending my thoughts and prayers to Amanda's family.
— Patrick Dempsey (@PatrickDempsey) July 7, 2015
When family members hadn’t heard from Amanda Peterson for several days earlier this summer, they contacted local authorities, who conducted a wellness check at her apartment. That’s when her body was discovered.
How sad that her day was preventable.