Smith died of accidental overdose

FORT LAUDERDALE — Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper said Monday.

The announcement came six weeks after the former Playboy Playmate and reality TV star was found unconscious in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Fla., and later pronounced dead at Hollywood Memorial Regional Hospital.

Perper said Smith mixed a lethal combination of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications, antibiotics, Valium and chloral hydrate, a rarely prescribed sedative. Chloral hydrate, which is sometimes used as a sleep aid, was found at high levels in her body, Perper said.

An infection in her buttocks caused after injections of health serums, including vitamin B-12, caused a high fever days before her death, and Smith also may have had the flu, Perper said. Those conditions weakened the former model and contributed to her death, he said.

Perper ruled out homicide, saying there was no evidence that anyone forced Smith to take the drugs. He also ruled out suicide because she did not take excessive quantities of the medicines she had on hand, as is typical in a suicide case.