Coroner Says Cory Monteith Did Not Have Fentanyl in System - East Idaho News
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Coroner Says Cory Monteith Did Not Have Fentanyl in System

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GETTY 4113 Cory%20Monteith?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1374139845476Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic(NEW YORK) — Police in British Columbia have issued warnings about a spike in heroin overdoses in recent months, indicating they may be linked to the opiate fentanyl being added to heroin. But the BC Coroners Service in the province says Glee star Cory Monteith did not have fentanyl in his system when he died.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the coroner’s office said, “Toxicology results did not indicate any presence of the drug.”

The office announced earlier this week that the 31-year-old Glee actor had died of a “mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol.”

British Columbia police tell CBCNews fentanyl may increase the potency of heroin and may be the cause of recent overdoses in the region.  Law enforcement has not yet confirmed the presence of the drug in local heroin, but two samples are being tested.

Monteith was found dead in his Vancouver, British Columbia, hotel room last Saturday.  He had struggled with substance abuse in the past.

After a private viewing at the hospital, he was reportedly cremated on Tuesday.

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